AGSIW President Marcelle M. Wahba spoke with Al Arabiya about U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to the Gulf states noting, “The U.S.-MOU with Qatar is a good first step toward resolving the crisis.”

AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Karen E. Young spoke to Zenith about the GCC crisis and the role of the Trump administration: “You could say Donald Trump was played by the Emiratis and the Saudis.” She continued, “They saw an opening and an opportunity to push forward in foreign policy directives that they held anyway, and they went for it.” She additionally commented on the economic status of the Gulf states by noting that the current dispute could disrupt agendas the GCC has been working on as a whole, including defense, intelligence sharing, economic mobility of citizens, and infrastructure such as the planned railway.

Speaking with Vox, Young explored other economic factors in the GCC crisis. She discussed the ability for Qatar to capitalize on the natural gas demand in neighboring countries and commented on the relationship between Qatar and Iran stating that their relationship is more of an investment partnership; they are not friends but invest in the same shared asset.