Abrupt Middle East Geopolitical Turnabout: The Qatar, Saudi Arabia and GCC Crisis
NOVANEWS
By: Mouin Rabbani
Jadaliyya
Featured image: Logo of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
It is tempting, and not entirely inaccurate, to dismiss the escalating crisis between Qatar and a number of its neighbors as a petulant princely playground spat. Extending this tempting logic, one could conclude that decisive victory by each of the protagonists would be the optimal outcome. Yet the dispute also reflects deeper dynamics in Arab and regional politics that are shaping the increasingly turbulent and violent realities of the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is the locus of the present crisis, was established in 1981 by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its form...