Qatar and the Gulf Crisis: A Study of Resilience

by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, launching an economic blockade by land, air and sea. The self-proclaimed 'Anti-Terror Quartet' offered maximalist demands: thirteen 'conditions' recalling Austria-Hungary's 1914 ultimatum to Serbia. They may even have intended military action. Well into its second year, the standoff in the Gulf has no realistic end in sight. With the Bahraini and Emirati criminalisation of expressing support for Qatar, and the Saudi labelling of detainees as 'traitors' for their alleged Qatari links, bitterness has been stoked between deeply interconnected peoples. The adviser to the Saudi crown prince advocating a moat to physically separate Qatar from the Arabian Peninsula illustrates the ongoing intensity―and irrationality―of the crisis. Most reporting and analysis of these developments has focused on questions of regional geopolitics, and framed the standoff in terms of its impact on (largely) Western interests. Lost in this thicket of commentary is consideration of how the Qatari leadership and population have responded to the blockade. As the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws closer, the ongoing Qatar crisis becomes increasingly important to understand. Ulrichsen offers an authoritative study of this international standoff, from both sides.

Genres: Politics

348 pages, Hardcover

Published December 19, 2019

About the author

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is the Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Reviews

[Omar Amer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read from Kristian Ulrichsen, unfortunately for a second time, I feel I haven't really come away with much. I bought this book as soon as it was released for $30, I now wish I borrowed it instead or just read a few articles on the matter. The book can be summed up in three parts, firstly the blockade was years in the making, it was exasperated by the arrival of Trump on the scene with Kushner becoming close to MBZ and MBS hoping to one-day secure friendly relations with Israel for those states.

Secondly, how well Qatar managed to handle the blockade within the first few days and this has been a huge blessing in disguise for Qatar.

Thirdly, with the world cup approaching, it is unclear how it will end with all sides wanting to save phase, Khristian believes it will be a slow process with allowances arriving in installments without 'huge fanfare'.

[Ian McHugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough and detailed account of the Qatar blockade 2017-2021. There is an impressive array of footnotes and supporting articles here which, as someone discovering the full details of the crisis for the first time, was incredibly useful. The nature of the discussion, taken chapter by chapter and split into different facets of impact and Qatari response is comprehensive.

The tone throughout is sympathetic to Qatar and, whilst this may be warranted, I would like to have heard a more nuanced approach to some of the accusations of terrorist links to Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Al-Nusra, ISIL, and, importantly, Hamas. Ulrichsen does an excellent job of providing the Qatari view of such links and counter-arguments are then not necessarily given credence.

Subsequent to the January 2021 'resolution' of the crisis the book is in need of a final chapter and some revisions. That said, the analysis does mostly hold and it will be interesting to see how the GCC relationships and Qatar's place in Gulf geo-politics develops in the coming years.

Informative and important.

[Nayef · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب يتحدث عن الازمة الخليجيه بشكل خاص لكن بشكل عام تحدث عن جل الازمات فالجزيرة العربيه وبالذات المناوشات مابين دولها من عام ١٨٠٠ الى الان.

[The Contented · Rating 3 out of 5]

My perceptive baby pointed out that the cover of the book looked very much like the airline.

The writing style was different to anything else I have read.

2.5 stars for being informative, if not the most readable account of anything.

[Mr Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Very thorough coverage of the events leading up to the Gulf crisis of 2017, and in depth reporting on the diplomatic relations between GCC from the initial tensions of 1996 & 2014.

The writing style and delivery differs greatly from other political and geo-political non-fiction books. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the geo-politics of the Gulf/Middle Eastern states.