Name? Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Westphalian identity? Qatari
Age? 40
Why is he in the news? Today marks 3 years since Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain first imposed a blockade on Qatar, cutting all diplomatic and economic ties over alleged state financing of terrorism. Time for a roundup of the past three years and its implications for the Middle East as it really hasn’t resulted in a lot of implications for al Thani.
Why do we care? The blockade came as a bit of a shock to the world in 2017. The weeks after were a struggle for the nation that, at that time, imported 90% of its food supplies, often from the four countries that just blocked them.
Why should you care? Because the blockade begs the question the world of IR has attempted to answer for decades now: Are sanctions a legitimate and effective form of changing a countries behaviour? They certainly did not work with al Thani. If anything, the sanctions made Qatar more self-sufficient; which has been further proven now in the Covid-19 crisis. While many countries struggle with broken supply chains, Qatar has not experienced food shortages of any sort. And, as far as the data shows, accusations of continued financing of terrorism persists.
Who else cares? As always, the U.S. cares. The country found itself in an uncomfortable position three years ago when the embargo first came into place and this has not changed; especially since Qatar increased trade with Iran. The Commander in Tweet will surely handle this situation well…no doubt about it.
Any further comments? After three years there is no sight of the situation changing any time soon as there is no political will to change on any of the sides (as it is with most conflicts). That said, all countries involved have become comfortable at ignoring this situation all together (not exactly how it is with most conflicts…just ask any of the major geopolitical powers about their personal vendettas).
