Saudi Arabia and the UAE's propaganda war against Qatar

[Kuwaiti Girl]

I've been browsing this forum for the last couple of days, hoping that someone from the Gulf/GCC region will muster up the courage to enlighten PDF's visitors, particularly the Pakistanis and other non-Arabs, about the ongoing escalation of political tensions between Qatar and the Saudi-Emirati axis. But alas, I realized that it was completely up to me to do the dirty job of explaining and analyzing the troublesome pseudo-brotherly relations between Qatar and its adjacent Gulf Arab neighbors.

So brace yourselves, PDFers. This thread isn't going to be about Saudi Arabian cuisine, the Arabian horse, or other nonsensical stuff that ironically have nothing to do with a self-described politico-military forum. Instead, this thread is going to lay out the hard, cold, and ugly truth about the so-called "brotherly" relations between the various Gulf Arab states. So if you don't like what you're about to read, I guess you can choose to ignore it, or, worse still, report the thread for being too truthful for your own comfort.

A few months ago, I started a thread on PDF about a hashtag that was tending on the Arab section of Twitter at the time. The hashtag translated as "You are a liar, just like your father" in English. It was a reference to a response that the previous Saudi king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, supposedly gave to the current emir of Qatar during a meeting in 2014. The trending hashtag came to me as a surprise, since it was the first time I ever saw Saudis publicly insulting and lashing out at the ruler of another GCC country. The timing of the event also made little sense to me since it came only a few months after the current Saudi king, Salman bin Abdulaziz, met with the emir of Qatar in Doha. Notwithstanding the underlying disagreements between Qatar and its GCC neighbors over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist movements, the timing of the public outcry against the emir of Qatar by thousands of Saudis on Twitter was still extremely shocking and unprecedented.

So I naturally came to PDF to look for the answers. I started the thread in hopes that one of the Saudi PDFers would know what's going on, but that turned out to be a complete waste of time. Unsurprisingly, virtually all Saudis around here decided to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that everything was in good order between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Common sense and realism/pragmatism were swiftly thrown out the window, and all indications of new rifts between Qatar and Saudi Arabia were denied on the grounds that these two countries shared the same cultural and tribal heritage, even though shared heritages have never stopped people or polities/states from fighting one another in the real world. And not to be outdone by others, some Saudis even suggested that Iran might have been behind that trending hashtag. After all, Iran is also behind more critical world issues, such as climate change, so why shouldn't they also be behind the Twitter hashtag against Qatar?

A couple of weeks ago, only days before Saudi Arabia and the UAE began waging their propaganda war against Qatar, authorities in Doha claimed that they were victims of an orchestrated smear campaign by the media and think tanks of certain countries, and that they knew exactly who was behind this plot:

http://www.gulf-times.com/story/549584/Qatar-says-it-is-victim-of-terror-smear-campaign

^This statement was released by the government of Qatar only days before its news agency supposedly got hacked and began to publish an Iranian-friendly speech that was attributed to Qatar's emir.

A few days after Qatar said it was the victim of an orchestrated smear campaign, its official news agency published an article about a speech that the emir of Qatar supposedly gave during a military graduation ceremony. The emir of Qatar supposedly said the following things:

1. That it would be unwise to be hostile towards Iran since Iran is a great Muslim power in the region.

2. That Hezbollah and Hamas are resistance movements, not terrorist groups.

3. That the countries that accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism (i.e. Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are themselves guilty of promoting a radical version of Islam.

4. That the Al Udeid Air Base is meant to protect Qatar's sovereignty from the irredentist ambitions of neighboring states.

Now, it must be borne in mind that this article was published by Qatar News Agency at midnight, and that it only took the Saudi and UAE media a couple of minutes to immediately republish the news without even attempting to verify it. Even after Qatar announced that its news website was hacked, the Saudi and UAE media continued to republish the speech that was supposedly attributed to the emir of Qatar.

Now let's get one thing straight: there is no independent media in the Gulf. All news channels are directly controlled by the governments of their respective host countries. Al Arabiya is the mouthpiece of the Saudi government, just as Sky News Arabia is the mouthpiece of the UAE government. Both news outlets are continuing to publish propaganda pieces against Qatar as we speak, so it is very clear that there is a Saudi and Emirati attempt to subvert Qatar.

Here are only a few examples of Saudi and Emirati propaganda articles against Qatar over the last couple of days:

1. ANALYSIS: Qatar following Iran’s policy of interference in the region’s crises
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...y-of-interference-in-the-region-s-crises.html

2. ANALYSIS: How Qatar and Iran’s hardliners are very much alike politically
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...homeinis-are-very-much-alike-politically.html

3. ANALYSIS: Hezbollah and Qatar – a story of forbidden love?
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...lah-and-Qatar-a-story-of-forbidden-love-.html

4. Qatar reportedly gave $500 mln to Popular Mobilization militias in Iraq
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...to-Popular-Mobilization-militias-in-Iraq.html

5. Proof that Qatar News Agency was not hacked
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/med...of-that-Qatar-News-Agency-was-not-hacked.html

6. Qatari intelligence founder: ‘Doha has lost its mind’
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...lligence-founder-Doha-has-lost-its-mind-.html

7. Haftar accuses Qatar of supporting terrorism in Libya
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...s-Qatar-of-supporting-terrorism-in-Libya.html

8. Qatari Emir: Doha has ‘tensions’ with the Donald Trump administration
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...Islamic-power-its-ties-with-Israel-good-.html

9. Who runs Qatar behind the scenes?
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/vie.../05/26/Who-runs-Qatar-behind-the-scenes-.html

10. Analysts raise fears of US base’s proximity to Hamas in Qatar
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...rs-of-US-base-so-close-to-Hamas-in-Qatar.html

Over the last week, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all blocked Al Jazeera and other Qatari-based or Qatari-funded media outlets:

So in case you've been wondering what the heck is going on, why this is happening, and what are the implications of these tensions, I'm going to write my analysis of the situation in the following post since this post has become way too long already.

I'll just hint a few things before I write my next post:

1. This has something to do with Turkey and the Qatari-Turkish axis.

2. It also has something to do with Yemen.

3. There are underlying historical issues as well between Qatar and its neighbors.

4. In many ways, geography has played a huge role in determining Qatar's foreign policies.

5. Israel is also involved in the recent rifts between Qatar and its neighbors.

 

[The SC]

Waiting for your analysis..

This is going a bit farther:

Former Qatari Emir not a descendant of Sheikh Abdulwahab: Al-Asheikh family

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/form...lwahab-al-asheikh-family.498621/#post-9525425

 

[EgyptianAmerican]

1. This has something to do with Turkey and the Qatari-Turkish axis.

No

2. It also has something to do with Yemen.

Highly unlikely

3. There are underlying historical issues as well between Qatar and its neighbors.

Nope

4. In many ways, geography has played a huge role in determining Qatar's foreign policies.

The same thing applies to literally every country on Earth.

5. Israel is also involved in the recent rifts between Qatar and its neighbors.

No

ongoing escalation of political tensions between Qatar and the Saudi-Emirati axis.

Because it doesn't matter. This is a bump in relations, after a while they will be as close as brothers again. This is like all the idiots who made a big deal about Egypt and Saudi Arabia's bump in relations but after a couple months what happened? Exactly nothing.

People who make a big deal out of this are simply delusional idiots who want to act like they know something about the Middle east when they don't.

The trending hashtag came to me as a surprise, since it was the first time I ever saw Saudis publicly insulting and lashing out at the ruler of another GCC country.

The hashtag has nothing to do with this, stop connecting nonsense things.

Notwithstanding the underlying disagreements between Qatar and its GCC neighbors over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist movements

No, Qatar has already stated that they don't,have not, and will not support MB. You are literally just obsessed with this bull. Even the majority Egyptians are over it so just stop. It is pathetic how hard you try.

 

[Alithemoor1]

No, Qatar has already stated that they don't,have not, and will not support MB. You are literally just obsessed with this bull. Even the majority Egyptians are over it so just stop. It is pathetic how hard you try.

You can't be serious? It is a fact that they support, have supported and likely will keep supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in many countries around the world.

 

[Falcon29]

You can't be serious? It is a fact that they support, have supported and likely will keep supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in many countries around the world.

So what?

The recent political flare up seems to have died down recently. It was obviously a fake report that childish analysts and childish media decided to take advantage of. Saudi residents were not having it, and it has since been mostly gone from the media. Qatar and Saudi need each other and have a lot in common.

 

[Alithemoor1]

They are interfering in other countries' internal affairs supporting terrorist groups like Al Nusra Front and the Muslim Brotherhood. Not to mention their support for ISIS.

Here is a leaked audio of the previous Emir of Qatar talking to Gaddafi plotting against Saudi Arabia.
"If Allah gives me 12 years there would be no Al Saud in Saudi Arabia"

Qatar has been playing a dangerous game destabilising many countries and using its media arm of Aljazeera to target any country they have diplomatic issues with. Sometimes they would be talking all day and night about democracy and freedom of speech about their adversary countries and not a beep on Emir of Qatar and how they gave a life sentence to a poet for a mere poem he wrote about the Arab spring. They would be crying about the American bases in KSA but not a word about the American base in Qatar which is the largest in the middle east. They would be condemning Arab countries having relations with Israel while at the same time having pretty good relations with it.

 

[Falcon29]

Instead, this thread is going to lay out the hard, cold, and ugly truth about the so-called "brotherly" relations between the various Gulf Arab states.

No such utopia exists in this world. All you have are nations using weaker 'allies' to their advantage. And even then there are many disputes from within, and disputes that go farther even amongst a nationality.

They are interfering in other countries' internal affairs supporting terrorist groups like Al Nusra Front and the Muslim Brotherhood. Not to mention their support for ISIS.

Get lost with your nonsense man. I'm not watching your non-sensical video either. Muslim Brotherhood is umbrella of movements. Many Arab nations have a MB inspired party that has it's own national agenda. They share different regional and religious views, they are not one and the same. And they are not recognized as 'terrorist group', as they are mere political parties that take part in democratic elections.

What you believe about Al-Jazeera or Qatar is your business, I don't care. I'm not going to tolerate this 'terrorist MB' stuff. Or attacking anyone affiliated with MB just for affiliation. You present yourself and give people reasons to prefer one political camp vs. the other, or both.

 

[Alithemoor1]

No such utopia exists in this world. All you have are nations using weaker 'allies' to their advantage. And even then there are many disputes from within, and disputes that go farther even amongst a nationality.



Get lost with your nonsense man. I'm not watching your non-sensical video either. Muslim Brotherhood is umbrella of movements. Many Arab nations have a MB inspired party that has it's own national agenda. They share different regional and religious views, they are not one and the same. And they are not recognized as 'terrorist group', as they are mere political parties that take part in democratic elections.

What you believe about Al-Jazeera or Qatar is your business, I don't care. I'm not going to tolerate this 'terrorist MB' stuff. Or attacking anyone affiliated with MB just for affiliation. You present yourself and give people reasons to prefer one political camp vs. the other, or both.

lol another MB brainwashed sheep not bothered by facts then.

 

[SubWater]

Hello sis
good to see you here again and thanks for your analyse also I am waiting for further
base on my point of view Qatar problem with Saudi is really older than many think 1. and come back to 90s after successful coup or even older, 2. also everybody in Persian gulf same as me know that Saudis want to occupy every single persian gulf state same as Qatar.
3. Saudis and Qatar have old Border dispute and 4. also in neat future Saudis need Gas to pump in their oil fields.
4. Qatar believe MB and they don't have problem with voting box (Egypt and turkey are good example) in other hand Saudis are in love with Wahabis ideology and against any voting.

with all of that Qataris have right to fear about Trump trip.

 

[Falcon29]

lol another MB brainwashed sheep not bothered by facts then.

Facts of what? You just made a blanket statement that was derogatory and unacceptable. If you want to criticize a specific MB party or a specific nation, criticize them for whatever you are at odds with. Don't take the lazy and unjust path that many take. And no, I don't prefer MB parties over anyone else. I see faults in both camps and I criticize both of them. I don't favor any regional camp. I see lots of hypocrisy and unjust positions by the current regimes in power that should be spoken out against.

 

[Muhammed45]

@Kuwaiti Girl
That is true. In fact the main problem appeared when USA claimed MB is a terrorist organization.
There are two persons in GCC that can be named the axis of anti Qatar movement. First Muhammad Ibn Salman, second Muhammad Ibn Zayed the possible kings of KSA and UAE.
If Ibn Salman wants to have the future power of KSA, he has to first get rid of Muhammad Ibn Nayef who opposed him over war on Yemen. In tthe same situation, Ibn Zayed has to get rid of his brother who is the current ruler of UAE. Apparently Both these guys have made a front against Muhammad Ibn Nayef. The loss i Yemen will empower Ibn Nayef and his place in the ruling system of KSA will be better than the past.
Because of these facts we saw a war of words between KSA and Qatar, both sides accused each other of supporting terrorism in the region.
The opposite scenario about this war of words between them :
USA is trying to build a new axis UAE-USA-KSA which will declare a media war against Qatar, will accuse Qatar of terrorism and final;ly introducing MB as a terrorist group. This will lead to Israel's invasion on Gaza because Hamas will be targeted after such introduction from USA's new axis. On the other hand they will try to replace Mahmood Abbas with Muhammad Dahlan the puppet of UAE in west bank. Respectively Ibn Salman will eliminate Ibn Nayef and everything will be prepared for Arab-Israeli friendship. This scenario can be USA's new plan for middle east.
Apparently KSA and UAE have already planned this scenario, they want to get rid of MB and it's supporters in the region.
If we suppose that Qatar is playing the hoot LOL in fact they want to play Israel's plan and destroy 6 Arabic countries. First Kuwait, Bahrain will be removed from world map and second Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Yemen will be destroyed. I hope this one is not going to happen however depends on USA and Israel and how they want to order their regional lackeys.

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

If you're not a little snowflake and won't get offended by the harsh realities of geopolitics, then carry on reading...

First, let's start with the geography and history of the region in question. Qatar is more or less at the center of the Bahrain-UAE-KSA triangle:

Although Qatar is a peninsula and buffered by a body of water on 3 sides, Qatar's capital city (Doha) feels dangerously close to the capitals of 3 countries: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. For the sake of comparison, although a country like Kuwait does not enjoy Qatar's luxury of having natural borders/buffers with its neighbors (e.g. bodies of water, tall sand dunes, etc) and although it is in fact sandwiched between two very large countries (i.e. Iraq and Saudi Arabia), the irony is that Kuwait's capital is still far away from the capitals of its northern and southern neighbors. In theory, this means that Kuwait still has enough time to prepare for war with its neighbors. I say "in theory" because, back in 1990, Kuwait's rulers had a lot of time to deter an Iraqi invasion but naively thought that their fake "brotherly" relations with Iraq would never deteriorate to the point where both countries would go to war. Anyway, going back to Qatar, its peninsular geography is not as helpful as it initially appears, since the nation's capital is uncomfortably close to the capitals of its neighbors. As a case in point, it would literally take only minutes for Bahrain to launch a naval invasion of Qatar, and an hour for either Saudi Arabia or the UAE to launch a ground invasion of that country. So while it's true that Qatar's peninsular geography is somewhat of a blessing, it's also true that it's not really enough to deter Qatar's neighbors from posing a naval threat to its sovereignty, considering the close proximity between Doha and neighboring foreign capitals such as Abu Dhabi and Manama.

In many ways, the close proximity between the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE is reminiscent of the close proximity between the capitals of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Although the Bahrain-KSA-UAE triangle is nowhere near as vulnerable to instability as the southern Levant, it was historically the most unstable and war-torn area of the Gulf region. As a matter of fact, in the 1800s, Qatar was, on numerous occasions, militarily harassed and attacked by the Saudis, Bahrainis, and Abu Dhabi. This prompted the 19th century rulers of Qatar to forge alliances with both the Ottoman Empire and British Empire. Just like with Kuwait, the Ottoman Turks recognized Qatar as an "autonomous" state in exchange for Qatar's allegiance to the Ottoman sultan. Both Kuwait and Qatar were classified as independent kaymakamliks. The relations between Qatar and Britain grew stronger after Ottoman power began to decline and especially after the Ottomans became less willing to help protect Qatar against its neighbors. This gave the British a golden opportunity to forge stronger ties with the Qataris. Nonetheless, the historical ties between Qatar and Turks were overall very positive.

Geography dictates that Qatar will always forge ties with faraway powers in order to protect its sovereignty from immediate neighbors. This has been the case both historically and at present. Historically, it was the Ottomans and British who gave Qatar the protection that it needed against its irredentist neighbors. In modern times, it has largely been the Americans who have provided this security arrangement. However, in recent years, Qatar has once again reestablished strong ties with Turkey, its most trustworthy historical partner. This has no doubt angered Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, both of whom view the Qatari-Turkish axis as a facilitator of the Muslim Brotherhood and other hostile Sunni Islamist movements in the region. The Saudis have tried and failed to court the Turks by promising them investments and weapons purchases. Turkey appears unwilling to abandon Qatar and the Sunni Islamic cause for the sake of UAE and Saudi money. Qatar still holds an important place in Ankara's foreign policy doctrine. The Turks have invested heavily in Qatar's sovereignty and long-term security, and are for the time being unwilling to let go of the Qataris. The feelings are mutual as far as the Qataris are concerned. Qatar is now the largest Gulf Arab investor in Turkey, which has greatly benefited the economies and businesses of both countries. Both countries still believe that the future generations of the Arab World will embrace "Islamic democracy" and reject antagonistic trends.

But Qatar's strategy was never to put all its eggs in one basket. As the former Qatari prime minister said in a recent speech he gave at Qatar University, Qatar's foreign policy objective is to forge alliances with as many faraway powers as possible in order to secure its long-term sovereignty. Indeed, Qatar has begun to court not only Turkey, but also Britain, Russia, China and India. Qatar has set up a Chinese Yuan clearing center in Doha to ease transactions between both countries. It has also invested in Russia's Gazprom, set up subsidiary airlines in India, and strengthened economic cooperation with London. In fact, this summer, Qatar is hosting many business conferences and events across the United Kingdom in order to encourage British businesses to open Middle Eastern branches in Qatar's newly created financial district in Doha. Last year, Qatar announced that it wants to transform its newly built Doha financial district into the "Wall Street of the Gulf". Of course, this has also unsettled the Emiratis, since the number one financial hub in the region right now is located in Dubai.

So there are also economic reasons behind the current rifts between Qatar and its neighbors. The UAE does not want to be outplayed by Qatar in its own financial game, but it appears that the Qataris are very serious about dethroning the UAE as the number one business destination of the Gulf region. This will no doubt deal a huge blow to the UAE's plan to become the strongest, most diversified and most sustainable economy in the region. Unlike Kuwait and Bahrain, which also hope to become financial hubs in the region, Qatar's attempt to become the financial center of the region is taken a lot more seriously by the UAE leaders. Qatar now has the most competitive and open economy in the region, as well as the fastest growing private sector. Without a doubt, these economic indicators are troubling the Emiratis. Another factor troubling the UAE is Qatar's natural gas reserves, which experts believe will not run out for the next 130 years, not to mention the fact that there are still many undiscovered natural gas reserves in Qatar. The UAE will run out of oil 70 years before Qatar will run out of its discovered natural gas reserves.

So there are a combination of economic, geographic and historical factors behind the ongoing rifts between Qatar and its neighbors, primarily the UAE.

In short, although Qatar's peninsular geography is helpful and somewhat of a natural deterrence, the country's extreme proximity to neighboring capitals is an annoyance, a cause for concern, and the main driving force behind Qatar's alignment with faraway powers. Also, Qatar's history of repeatedly getting attacked and harassed by its neighbors dictates that the country will never completely trust them. Economically, Qatar's strive for diversification and becoming the main financial hub of the region is upping the hostility that it's receiving from the likes of the UAE.

So what about the UAE and Saudi Arabia? Apart from their desire to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood from the region, why else are they waging a propaganda war against Qatar? Well, the UAE wants to remain the number one financial and tourism hub in the region, and does not want Qatar to overtake places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the number one financial center of the Gulf. Secondly, the UAE is unhappy with Qatar's attempts to keep Yemen unified. It has become very clear by now that the UAE intends to divide Yemen into north and south. Abu Dhabi's support for the South Yemen separatists is being confronted by Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood factions of Yemen. The Qatari media has vilified the UAE over the last couple of weeks over its attempt to balkanize Yemen. In return, the UAE media has accused Qatar of supporting Islamist groups in Yemen, some of which have become a huge obstacle to the independence ambitions of the South Yemen movement.

I'll post more things about the UAE and the South Yemen movement in another thread. Again, this is another thing that many members around here have insulted me for exposing many months ago. A lot of UAE-based and Gulf-based members accused me of making things up when I said that the UAE was planning to break up Yemen and that it was building military bases in Socotra and Somaliland. Well, recent events show that everything I said before is turning out to be true.

So why is Qatar against the UAE's plan to break up Yemen? Well, there are many answers to that question:

1. Qatar believes that if the UAE breaks up Yemen, then South Yemen will become a secular and anti-Islamist country, which will strengthen the UAE's regional influence and weaken Qatar's.

2. Qatar also believes that this will strengthen the case for officially balkanizing other countries as well, such as Somalia, Libya, Syria and Iraq. This means that the north Somalian breakaway state of Somaliland will eventually receive international recognition. Somaliland, just like South Yemen, will be an anti-Islamist and secular state, which will no doubt mean that both Qatari and Turkish influence in the Horn of Africa will decline, just as Qatari and Turkish influence in Libya and Yemen will decline.

3. The UAE is also secretly supporting Kurdish and Kurdish-aligned secular groups in Syria and Iraq. The UAE has already publicly stated its support for Kurdish independence. Again, Qatar doesn't like this since it will diminish Qatari and Turkish influence in the Levant and Mesopotamia. Also, Kurdish statehood will weaken Qatar's best ally in the region, Turkey.

Okay, so what about Israel? Why is Israel with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and against Qatar?

1. Israel shares the UAE's goal of officially breaking up countries like Libya, Yemen, Somalia, etc. It also shares the UAE's policy of promoting anti-Islamist secularists at the expense of Islamists.

2. Israel shares the UAE's goal of helping the Kurds achieve independence. Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia all believe that an independent Kurdistan will act as bulwark against both Islamist Turkey and Islamist Iran.

3. Israel and the UAE are secretly planning to oust Hamas from Gaza and replace them with a secular pro-UAE Palestinian group. In order for this to happen, Hamas must be weakened, and this means that both Qatar and Turkey must be stopped from helping Hamas.

Here's something interesting. A few weeks ago, Hamas declared that its cutting its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and that it no longer wishes to see the destruction of Israel. Many believe that this was Hamas's desperate attempt to convince Israel not to go with the UAE's plan of invading Gaza.

So what's going to happen? Who will win and who will lose? What will America do, if anything?

Well, a number of things might happen:

1. The UAE might stage a coup against the current emir of Qatar and replace him with elements of the Qatari ruling family who are willing to play second fiddle to Abu Dhabi and willing to cut all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist movements. Of course, in order for this coup to happen successfully, the Americans must accept it, otherwise it won't be allowed to take place. Another obstacle is Turkey, which already has a military base in Qatar, with well over 500 Turkish troops.

2. A coup might not necessarily occur, but Qatar might make a number of big concessions to the UAE, which includes staying out of the Yemeni war, staying out of the war in Libya, and not hosting Islamists in Doha.

3. The UAE might overextend itself and things might begin to backfire on Abu Dhabi. Increased hostility towards Qatar might strengthen Qatar's resolve and, ironically, push the Qataris even closer to the Iranians and Turks.

4. The American deep state might ironically use this as an opportunity to play the Qatari bloc and UAE bloc off against each other to ensure that neither bloc gets the upper hand.

Personally, I don't think Abu Dhabi or Riyadh will succeed in this current rift. Although the UAE and Saudi Arabia wish the Americans/Westerners will side with them against Qatar, the truth is the United States will not allow the UAE to establish a strong upper hand in the region, even though the UAE has helped the US in many places across the Middle East, particularly in Yemen. The truth, however, is that the Americans won't throw the Qataris under the bus. They will continue ensuring that there's a balance of power in the region, which obviously means that they won't allow the UAE or Saudi Arabia to succeed in subverting Doha.

Moreover, many foreign powers already have vested interests in Qatar's sovereignty. None of them will allow Abu Dhabi to cross the red lines.

So I actually think this is where the UAE might fumble for the very first time since the Arab Spring began. The UAE was bound to stretch itself too thin at some point, and this might just be the point where it does.

I think Qatar's resolve will actually strengthen and not get worse. Just like in 2014, it might offer a few symbolic gestures of goodwill to its neighbors, but it will continue pursuing a foreign policy that will run contrary to those of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This will especially be true as Turkey, Qatar's best ally in the region, becomes more assertive in the region.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

They are interfering in other countries' internal affairs supporting terrorist groups like Al Nusra Front and the Muslim Brotherhood. Not to mention their support for ISIS.

Here is a leaked audio of the previous Emir of Qatar talking to Gaddafi plotting against Saudi Arabia.
"If Allah gives me 12 years there would be no Al Saud in Saudi Arabia"

Qatar has been playing a dangerous game destabilising many countries and using its media arm of Aljazeera to target any country they have diplomatic issues with. Sometimes they would be talking all day and night about democracy and freedom of speech about their adversary countries and not a beep on Emir of Qatar and how they gave a life sentence to a poet for a mere poem he wrote about the Arab spring. They would be crying about the American bases in KSA but not a word about the American base in Qatar which is the largest in the middle east. They would be condemning Arab countries having relations with Israel while at the same time having pretty good relations with it.

Funnily enough Gaddafi is dead and so is his regime. Both forever gone. Hamad is done and dusted (ousted in other words) as well because he completely failed with all his "projects". As usual KSA had the last laugh and this will continue as KSA will continue to dominate the GCC and dictate the main policies as has been the case for a long time and will continue to be the case due to sheer size, economic power, military power, political power, religious power, population size, number of allies etc. Any tiny GCC state (Qatar in particular) that dares to threaten KSA will be dealt with.

 

[war&peace]

The situation is complex and cumbersome but the solution is simple though not easy. I don't see anyone in the Arab world who has what it takes to reconcile and wallahi the hadeeths of my beloved Prophet (ﷺ) are 100% true

 

[EgyptianAmerican]

You can't be serious? It is a fact that they support, have supported and likely will keep supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in many countries around the world.

"We don't, won't and didn't support the Muslim Brotherhood," Qatar FM tells Arab News

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1100781/middle-east

Qatar is more or less at the center of the Bahrain-UAE-KSA triangle:

????

between the capitals of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

????

Amman,Damascas, Tel Aviv, and Beirut are nowhere near each other.

both of whom view the Qatari-Turkish axis as a facilitator of the Muslim Brotherhood and other hostile Sunni Islamist movements in the region.

No also what is with your obsession with the MB and Sunni Islamists? Why do you keep bringing them up?

1. Qatar believes that if the UAE breaks up Yemen, then South Yemen will become a secular and anti-Islamist country, which will strengthen the UAE's regional influence and weaken Qatar's.

No, that is literally impossible. The likelihood of South Yemen becoming Secular and UAE supporting a secular movement is about as Likely as Zeus falling from the Sky and smiting every human on Earth.

2. Qatar also believes that this will strengthen the case for officially balkanizing other countries as well, such as Somalia, Libya, Syria and Iraq. This means that the north Somalian breakaway state of Somaliland will eventually receive international recognition. Somaliland, just like South Yemen, will be an anti-Islamist and secular state, which will no doubt mean that both Qatari and Turkish influence in the Horn of Africa will decline, just as Qatari and Turkish influence in Libya and Yemen will decline.

No, and No

3. The UAE is also secretly supporting Kurdish and Kurdish-aligned secular groups in Syria and Iraq. The UAE has already publicly stated its support for Kurdish independence. Again, Qatar doesn't like this since it will diminish Qatari and Turkish influence in the Levant and Mesopotamia. Also, Kurdish statehood will weaken Qatar's best ally in the region, Turkey.

It isn't not at all. There is no official statement saying the UAE supports Kurds. In Fact UAE has been a well known supporter of FSA and other Rebel groups.

1. Israel shares the UAE's goal of officially breaking up countries like Libya, Yemen, Somalia, etc. It also shares the UAE's policy of promoting anti-Islamist secularists at the expense of Islamists.

No it doesn't and neither is that UAE's policy.

2. Israel shares the UAE's goal of helping the Kurds achieve independence. Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia all believe that an independent Kurdistan will act as bulwark against both Islamist Turkey and Islamist Iran.

No it doesn't at all.

3. Israel and the UAE are secretly planning to oust Hamas from Gaza and replace them with a secular pro-UAE Palestinian group. In order for this to happen, Hamas must be weakened, and this means that both Qatar and Turkey must be stopped from helping Hamas.

No, you are absolutely crazy if you believe so.

. Many believe that this was Hamas's desperate attempt to convince Israel not to go with the UAE's plan of invading Gaza.

No

1. The UAE might stage a coup against the current emir of Qatar and replace him with elements of the Qatari ruling family who are willing to play second fiddle to Abu Dhabi and willing to cut all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist movements. Of course, in order for this coup to happen successfully, the Americans must accept it, otherwise it won't be allowed to take place. Another obstacle is Turkey, which already has a military base in Qatar, with well over 500 Turkish troops.

No, the only people staging Coups in Qatar are fellow Qataris.

2. A coup might not necessarily occur, but Qatar might make a number of big concessions to the UAE, which includes staying out of the Yemeni war, staying out of the war in Libya, and not hosting Islamists in Doha.

No

3. The UAE might overextend itself and things might begin to backfire on Abu Dhabi. Increased hostility towards Qatar might strengthen Qatar's resolve and, ironically, push the Qataris even closer to the Iranians and Turks.

No

4. The American deep state might ironically use this as an opportunity to play the Qatari bloc and UAE bloc off against each other to ensure that neither bloc gets the upper hand.

Of course a person like you would believe in such a idiotic conspiracy theory like the "deep state" in America.