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Qatar’s public diplomacy woes
When the rumours get so large that answers are demanded they are met with walls of silence, not because Qatar has anything to hide, but because that is the culture of governance here. 2013 seems to be...
View ArticleSyria's peace: what, how, when?
Fawaz Gerges and Rosemary Hollis with Robin Yassin-Kassab at the openDemocracy conference Syria's peace: what, how, when?, discussing the regional proxy war, class dynamics in Syria, intervention and...
View ArticleQatar moving closer to Algeria?
The intensification of economic cooperation - which is very advantageous to both – might be a way to achieve a deepening of political relations, in the context of a possible evolution of regional...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia and Qatar ratchet up sectarian and ethnic tensions in Iraq
Iraq, a decade after the US-led invasion and one year after the end of the US occupation, is grappling not merely with an escalating sectarian crisis between the Shia-led government and an increasingly...
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Does Qatar have a stake in the nuclear debate?
Qatar refuses to allow its American airbase to be used as a launching pad for a strike against Iran should Israel or the US decide to go in. This certainly adds to the restrain factor that is so badly...
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Qatar’s top diplomat tackles the rumours
A plethora of rumours, some of which originated from very reputable media sources, are circling around Qatari mega-purchases of the Pyramids and the Suez Canal. Last week’s Arab Summit in Doha was a...
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The Qatari reaction to the Egyptian crisis
From this side of the political divide the Egyptians appear ungrateful, rude and disrespectful.Recently I was quoted in the Daily Beast making a rather inflammatory comment about how Qataris view the...
View ArticleArab awakening: Qatar’s controversial alliance with Arab Islamists
Tension with its Gulf neighbours began to rise from 2006 when Qatar and Al Jazeera stood with Lebanese Shi’ite group Hizbullah during its war with Israel, while western allied states clearly hoped to...
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Qatar and the US have a working relationship
The differences concerning Israel, the occasionally troublesome Al Jazeera network, and Qatar’s hosting and funding of hard-line Islamists have been papered over in favour of larger strategic visions...
View ArticleSyrian crisis now a global affair
The outcome of the Syrian crisis, no matter what that might be, will delimit the new Middle East in a way that will affect the entire world—not just Syria and the regionWestern leaders’ conflicting...
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Is Qatar guilty of sectarianism in Syria?
Let’s be clear here, Qatar lost in Qusair. It is embarrassing and undermines two years and $3bn of financial support to the rebel movement. And it is time that Qatar began to take some responsibility...
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Qatar’s future a quieter one?
Perhaps being a little less interesting from now on in would help ensure the country a more stable and prosperous future. Qatar is buzzing with political activity, Taliban, Syrians, and rumours over...
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This week's window on the Middle East - June 26, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, Israel: on music, the Academy and the cultural boycotts.Israel: on...
View ArticleQatar’s incomplete example
Today the Gulf States have reached a political stalemate. Political Islam, playing right into the hands of the governments, has caused damage to the cause of secular reformists throughout the...
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The Egyptian crisis and its regional effects
Should Egypt collapse into violence and disarray, supporting the Army might well make the UAE look similar to how Iran and Qatar appear in Syria - one sided backers in a conflict that pulls the...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - July 10, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, What Algeria 1992 can, and cannot, teach us about Egypt 2013Algeria...
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Qatari foreign policy: a way out
It’s been a bad month. Rather than put money into the central bank in Cairo, why not help subsidise staple foods for Egypt’s poorest, or support relief aid in North Africa? Qatar has had a bad month, a...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - July 23, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, How did the crises in Egypt snowball?How did the crises in Egypt...
View ArticleThe question of sectarianism in Middle East politics
Everywhere the Arab uprisings have been confronted by the entrenched vested interests of old regimes, the so-called ‘deep state’ in Egypt, and by Islamist populism. The alignment of regional powers,...
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On Al-Jazeera's lopsided coverage of Egypt
Al-Jazeera has not only lost much of its credibility, but the credibility of its main backer and benefactor, Qatar.Since its launch as a 24-hour Arabic satellite news channel in the late 1990s, Qatar's...
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