GCC Crisis

June 2017 witnessed an unprecedented escalation of tensions among the Gulf Cooperation Council states, culminating with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain severing ties with Qatar. AGSIW offers insights into the ongoing tensions and identifies the implications for Qatar and its GCC neighbors.

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Qatar Must Adapt SEZs to New Regional Geopolitical Realities

The Saudi, Bahraini, and Emirati efforts to isolate Qatar logistically will require a restructuring of the country’s plans for SEZs.

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Enter Erdogan: Turkey’s Economic Stake in the GCC Dispute

On the heels of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to visit Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

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Qatar’s Dispute with Neighbors Reverberates in Yemen

On the surface, Yemen’s reaction to the Gulf crisis, in which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, along with Egypt, have broken diplomatic ties with Qatar, was rather straightforward: On June 5, Yemen’s internationally recognized government cut ties with Qatar, accusing the country of backing the Houthis and Yemen-based extremist groups.

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Diplomatic Rift May Weaken Qatar’s Negotiating Power in Asian LNG Markets

The diplomatic and economic boycott imposed on Qatar – the world’s largest exporter of LNG – has created only marginal logistical disruptions for international LNG markets and has had no impact on oil supplies.

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Securing the Qatari State

Challenges have now emerged from Qatar’s three closest neighbors that are testing its two-pronged security modus operandi.

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Washington’s Competing Priorities in the Qatar Crisis

On June 20, a U.S. State Department spokesperson announced what seemed to be a crucial shift in the U.S. approach to the confrontation between a group of Washington’s core Arab allies – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt – and another major partner, Qatar.

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Qatar Crisis Heightens Obstacles to the Economic Reform Agenda

The isolation of Qatar is but one example of how the politics of the Gulf Arab states are getting in the way of economic diversification and transformation.

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GCC Crisis: Implications

As tensions across the Gulf Arab states escalate, measures taken against Qatar are impacting trade, business, and food security.

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Unfulfilled 2014 Riyadh Agreement Defines Current GCC Rift

Historical context is essential to understanding the escalating rift among the GCC states. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2014.

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Saudi Leadership and Qatar Media

Three members of the GCC – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain cut off ties to Qatar in a bold, high-stakes move to alter its behavior.

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Isolating Qatar Reveals Economic Vulnerabilities of the GCC

The Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati efforts to isolate Qatar from its GCC partners highlights structural weaknesses in many of the Gulf states, not just Qatar.

Trade Tensions and Tariffs: IEA, EIA, and OPEC Slash Global Oil Demand Forecasts

Global demand forecasts by leading agencies have diverged sharply, reflecting a deepening sense of uncertainty about the future path of the global economy.

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Through its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.

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