The Qatar Crisis
The Project on Middle East Political Science’s October 2017 briefing “The Qatar Crisis” features several pieces by AGSIW representatives.
The Project on Middle East Political Science’s October 2017 briefing “The Qatar Crisis” features several pieces by AGSIW representatives.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities in Iraq have reported a predictably huge “yes” vote, over 90 percent, in the nonbinding referendum on Kurdish independence that was held September 25.
For much of the past two and a half years diplomats have argued that Yemen’s civil war will only be ended through political compromise.
One of the key aspects of the ongoing Gulf crisis, which pits a quartet of countries composed of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt against Qatar, is the attempt to denounce Qatar and its leadership over its support of Islamist activist and jihadist networks.
Egypt is at the ideological center of the ongoing dispute between Qatar and its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The Saudi, Bahraini, and Emirati efforts to isolate Qatar logistically as part of the most recent Gulf Cooperation Council crisis will require a restructuring of the country’s plans for special economic zones (SEZs) – commonly known as free zones (FZs) in the rest of the GCC states.
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.
As the confrontation between the Arab coalition and Qatar nears the one-month mark, with Doha insisting it intends to reject the 13 demands placed before it, it’s becoming increasingly clear that if there is to be any kind of reconciliation it will be brokered by Washington.
The dispute between Qatar and its Arab neighbors has now entered its fourth week, causing an uptick in tension throughout the Middle East.
As new trade routes are emerging in Eurasia, Gulf states are increasingly looking to the transit and investment potential of the South Caucasus, particularly Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Learn MoreThrough 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.
Learn More