Ties with Qatar Severed by 5 Arab Nations

Trump’s first trip abroad could be categorized with one goal in mind: to create a global coalition to fight terrorism which has become an everyday occurrence in the world today. This coalition took a major hit this week as five Gulf states, Bahrain, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia all cut their ties to Yemen to isolate them from the world. This isolation effort includes cutting all diplomatic ties to the country as well as ending all forms of travel to and from the country.

Although there was no clear action that sparked this action, many theories are being proposed. According to senior fellow to Carnegie Middle East Center, Yezid Sayigh, this is simply a more aggressive form of the conflict that occurred during 2014. The main difference between the two crises being that these same governments have implemented both sea and air blockades.

Another possible explanation is that when Trump was so critical of Iran during his trip, some believed that this spread to Qatar as well. This is a state that Is well known for their allowing of fundraising for Islamist groups that are fighting in Syria, which is directly against this coalition.  This could also be a result of Qatar backing the Muslim Brotherhood not only in Egypt but also around the region.

The Saudi Arabians, however, have said that this was an effort to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.” This was in response to a statement released by the Qatar-sponsored news media which accidentally leaked a statement which stated that Trump was not fully committed to rebuking Iran.

Others have said that Qatar is conspiring with Iran, which is why they have cut their ties. This does not make sense though as Qatar is involved in two wars against Iran. One is against Assad and his regime, the other is a Houthi group in Yemen which is backed by Iran.

If anything this is the most outlandish claim because Qatar has been very proactive in the fight against terror. Since they are the world’s wealthiest country, they have used their power for good brokering both hostage situations and also prisoner exchanges. They are also a key member of “Four Towns” which is an initiative that buses civilians out of under sieged areas by either government troops or rebel forces.

All these actions may be working against their favor though. The more they portray themselves to be a “modern” nation, the more tensions seem to rise with other Arab nations.

Currently, though, the situation between these six countries is very bad. All Qatari citizens were given two weeks to leave Bahrain, whereas diplomats were only given 48 hours. Qatar Airways has been banned from Saudi airspace, and the United Arab Emirates has suspended all flights to Qatar through their three carriers.

The Saudi Arabians have also cut all trade to the Qataris, who receive 40% of their food supply from Saudi Arabia. This caused a massive buying out of all stores by those in Qatar to ensure that they at least have some food in the meantime.

The main bit of stress that has been resulting from this agreement is that the countries have refused any of their citizens, diplomats or military personnel from entering Qatar, where one of the United States’ main air bases in the Middle East is located. How is the United States expected to conduct a massive airstrike operation when five of their biggest allies are unable to coordinate the attacks from the same base?

Unless this issue is resolved soon, the efforts to contain Iran will not be as simple as originally believed. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hopes that the leaders of these nations will sit down and talk to resolve the issues but that is unlikely. These nations taking a much more assertive stance against Qatar could be the result of underlying tensions rising to the surface. Only time will tell how these events will unfold in the long run.