Berkley Center

Full disclosure: When I came to the khalij, I envisioned my time at the School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) to be a mix of classes and days at the beach admiring the Persian Gulf. However, the more I’ve spent time here in the Gulf, the more I’m coming to realize that the royal blue waters that I see daily are not as calm as I once thought they were. In light of the crises in Crimea and Syria, the Gulf has recently fallen victim to crisis—albeit not nearly to such epic proportions.

For those of you who haven’t heard, two weeks ago the ambassadors of Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia in Doha were sent back to their respective countries. This came in response to issued statements from Egyptian theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was visiting Doha at the time. Indeed, relations within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have not always been peaceful, and ambassadors have been called back to their respective countries. However, never has the Gulf seen such a massive diplomatic souring of relations. In fact, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have encouraged their citizens to resign from journalistic posts in Qatar, including from agencies like Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has threatened a siege by land and sea of Qatar if the country does not properly address its concerns.

While Emirati journalists have resigned from posts at various news agencies in the country, I think we are far from calling a state of emergency. In my talks with local Qatari students, most seem unfazed by the current politics within the GCC region. According to one of my Qatari friends, the issue is solely between governments and not people. She has a point. Days after the recall of ambassadors from Qatar, you could see Qatari, Saudi, Bahraini, and other GCC nationals alike discussing the matter. From what I’ve seen discourse hasn’t been accusatory; the general consensus seems to be wonder about why things have escalated so quickly over something seemingly minor.

This semester I’m taking a class on the dynamics of the GCC, so naturally the recent events in the Persian Gulf are a relevant and fascinating supplement to those lectures. In its 30-plus years of existence, the GCC has made significant inroads in unifying the region, whether it be economically through the common market, politically through its various measures of coordination, or socially through programs that promote pan-Arabism. However, in spite of these successes, I think the recent turmoil in the Gulf only highlights just how difficult establishing unity can be. In light of conflict in Syria and political unrest in Egypt, I think it’s hard to remain unified when your surrounding environment is fragile and the threat of spill-over conflict is great. Case in point: the current situation now as al-Qaradawi’s comments have highlighted the varying—and often conflicting—attitudes within the GCC on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and their role in the country’s future.

Looking towards the future, I don’t expect the conflict to escalate any further. With the GCC currently investigating the matter, it appears that the respective parties in the matter are resorting to diplomatic means in order to resolve the conflict. However, the one question that I continue to grapple with is how the GCC will be affected moving forward. Indeed, the Gulf region has never seen such a massive diplomatic blow since the creation of the GCC. With only six member states in total and four member states involved in the conflict, I think the GCC will have to weather some rough water before it can find the calm after the storm.