The embrace last week between Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, and Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, ended the three-year blockade of the tiny gas-rich emirate by its powerful neighbours, led by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates.
The terms of the deal will only become fully known as they are implemented. But already the agreement — a tactical rapprochement rather than a reconciliation between embittered rivals — looks like a score-draw for Qatar against heavy odds. The deal restores the air, land and sea links to the emirate that were severed in June 2017, and lifts the trade embargo.
At the outset, the blockade was menacing. It had the initial if brief support of President Donald Trump. It looked as if Saudi Arabia planned to invade Qatar. The threat receded after the Pentagon reminded the Trump White House that Qatar was host to Al Udeid, the largest American air base in the wider Middle East, policing an arc of crisis from Yemen to Afghanistan.
Instead, the anti-Qatar crusaders came up with a laundry list of unrealistic demands. These included: the closure of Al Jazeera, the Qatari broadcaster; ending support for Islamist movements; abjuring the emirate’s links with Iran and alliance with Turkey, which has a military base in the emirate; and submitting to its neighbours’ monitoring for 12 years.
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