#Qatar Comes Out of GCC Embargo with a Much Stronger Hand - Bloomberg

Qatar Comes Out of GCC Embargo with a Much Stronger Hand - Bloomberg

Bringing Doha back.

 

Source: Royal Council of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

On Tuesday, Qatar was welcomed back into the fold of Gulf Arab states after a three-and-a-half-year embargo. As my colleague Hussein Ibish noted, this does not mean the country has resolved its disputes with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — the neighbors that imposed its isolation. No lambs were fattened for the returning prodigal, no laudations composed in welcome. Still, there is no gainsaying the fact that Doha has emerged stronger for the experience.

Among the quartet, there was a sense of resignation that the embargo failed in its objective, which was to bring Doha to heel, or at least in line with the Saudi-Emirati consensus on issues ranging from political Islam to the threat posed by Iran. Those issues underpinned the 13 demands they issued to Qatar in the summer of 2017. For good measure, the Qataris were also asked to close down Al Jazeera, the TV network that frequently criticizes the governments of neighboring countries.

The Emiratis, who were the prime movers behind the embargo, now claim the list of demands was no more than a “maximalist negotiating position.” But the concessions they were able to extract from the Qataris were minimalist. Judging from the official pronouncements, Doha has simply decided not to gloat over its neighbors’ failure.

The UAE’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, credited for last fall’s normalization of relations with Israel, has maintained silence on the subject of reconciliation with Qatar.