UAE, Qatar Restore Diplomatic Ties

Facts

• Qatar and the UAE's respective embassies and consulates resumed operations on Monday after a six-year pause in diplomatic ties.¹
• In 2017, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a boycott and blockade of Qatar over allegations the country was supporting Islamist groups across the Middle East after the Arab Spring protests in 2011.²
• The boycott was lifted in 2021, when a Saudi-brokered deal saw Egypt and Saudi Arabia reestablish relations with Qatar.³
• The resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the reopening of embassies comes after Saudi Arabia and Iran resumed diplomatic relations in March following years of hostility.⁴
• The developments follow a federal lawsuit, filed by a slain American journalist's family, which alleges that prominent Qatari institutions paid $800K in bribes to an IS "judge" who ordered his beheading in Syria in 2014.⁵
• Qatar – home to the largest US Air Force base in the Gulf – is a major non-NATO ally in the Middle East, along with Kuwait and Bahrain.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²ABC News, ³Arab News, ⁴Reuters, ⁵Associated Press, and ⁶Middle East Eye.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Gulf Times. This is a promising development and demonstrates that the prevailing attitude of rapprochement has led to several diplomatic breakthroughs in the Gulf. From Saudi Arabia and Iran to the UAE and Qatar, the Arab nations are putting aside their differences to tackle pressing issues in the region cooperatively.
• Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. We cannot forget that innocent people have lost lives because of Qatar's sponsorship of terror in the Middle East. There are credible allegations that Qatari banks, closely aligned with the government, funneled tens of millions of dollars into terror organizations, which was later used to carry out attacks. We must fight for justice for Qatar's victims, even amid this diplomatic thaw.

Predictions