The news of Saif al-Islam’s release should be taken with a pinch of salt. During the past six years of warfare in Libya the fabrication of news has become common practice.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE led a group of countries that have severed all ties to fellow American ally Qatar over its foreign policy. The US will play a key role in whether it accedes to their demands.
The ongoing diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia has isolated Qatar from the rest of the Middle East while also undermining the anti-Iran alliance among the Gulf countries.
Qatar has used its wealth to adopt policies sometimes rivaling Saudi Arabia’s. Think, for example, of the popular Al-Jazeera. Now the Saudis seem determined to limit Qatari influence as much as possible.
The strongest resistance to the United Nations resolution to promote LGBTI rights came from Muslim and African states. Many of these countries still criminalise same-sex relationships.
Hardly an enthusiastic upholder of human rights, Qatar has been welcomed as a participant in R2P – even though that obligates it to do basically nothing.
Oil-enriched kingdom: Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oilfield complex at night in the Rub’ al-Khali desert.
Ali Jarekji/Reuters
American consumers may welcome lower gas prices, but the drop in oil revenues could impact Arab Gulf states and Middle East security. A scholar examines the realities of decreased oil revenues.
Political goals for Russia’s gas giant.
Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters