Topic > Impact of the Qatar crisis on the European Union, Russia and the United States of America

The Qatar crisis undoubtedly had critical consequences on a local scale, but it also reverberated across the planet. There are mainly three parties to consider globally, namely the European Union and its members, the challenger Russia and, of course, the United States of America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay European countries import a huge amount of natural resources from this area of ​​the world, both oil and natural gas, and are therefore very interested in the political stability of the Middle Eastern countries. They have built strong bilateral relations with Gulf Cooperation Council countries – of which Qatar and Saudi Arabia are full members – through cooperation agreements. As Europe grew concerned about its own interests in the region, Europe sought to act as a mediator in this crisis to resolve it diplomatically. In fact, he encouraged de-escalation, but decided to fully support Kuwait in its attempt to facilitate negotiations towards a peaceful resolution and containment of the crisis. Indeed, the EU firmly believes that the participation of global powers such as the US and Russia, or even themselves, would be harmful. Europe has chosen this positioning because it does not trust that the American administration can understand and deal with this crisis efficiently. Furthermore, the EU is traumatized by the recent consequences of Western interventions in this region, and has deduced that only a local state, ideally part of the GCC, could truly perceive the interests and concerns of both sides. According to Europe, Kuwait therefore represents a key success factor for a rapid but sustainable resolution of the crisis. The EU is “ready to help, assist and accompany these mediation efforts in any ways that may be required,” said Frederica Mogherini, EU foreign policy representative. However, Europe has limited diplomatic capabilities and stronger actions could be taken by the EU. individual states of the Union such as France, Germany or the United Kingdom. The latter usually aligns itself with US foreign policy and this time too it stuck to it and proposed a common roadmap with the United States. In fact the UK is so focused on Brexit that the British can barely devote active resources to dealing with this crisis, even though their government is worried by Qatar not to sell the assets they own in the UK. On top of this fear, in the context of Brexit, the UK was looking for new partners to sign a trade deal with and planned to organize a round table with GCC nations to reach an agreement. These efforts have been interrupted due to the crisis, which does not reassure the British people. Considering that Germany has counter-terrorism as its first foreign policy priority, the country took the opportunity to ensure that the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) had access to Qatar's books. Except this point, even though Germany calls for a peaceful dialogue, it is totally reluctant to get deeply involved in the crisis. Nonetheless, he expressed his profound disagreement with the US position just as the dispute began. In this situation, France faces a complex situation as it is strongly linked to both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which are on Saudi Arabia's side. This is why France has not taken and will not take a clear position, other than supporting Kuwait for a peaceful solution, so as not to irritate any GCC. Yessees that Europe considers this issue as a strong risk to its interests in the region, but wants to avoid repeating mistakes of deep intervention, and rather support local actors to resolve the disagreement diplomatically. Unlike Europe, Russia saw the crisis as an opportunity to increase its influence in the region. The Russian Federation and Qatar have achieved good trade results in recent years, mainly thanks to the work of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Science and Cooperation. The two countries even signed an agreement on military cooperation. The recent renewal of relations between Russia and Qatar began with a heavy background as Russia accused Qatar in the early 2000s of harboring men who financed Chechen terrorists and rebels, then ordering their assassinations on Qatari soil. The situation even worsened with the Syrian crisis, Russia tried to strengthen its influence in the area by supporting the Bachar regime while Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood who financed the Syrian rebels. Since then, Doha has understood the grip that Russia had on the area and has decided to reduce the diplomatic gap. Russia therefore took the dispute in the Gulf as an opportunity to further expand its influence by getting closer to an ancient ally of the United States. It met Qatar's expectations as it had been desperate for allies since the beginning of the crisis and had already moved closer to Iran, a Russian ally. In addition to this search for new support, Qatar had realized that it could not supply gas to Europe without Moscow's approval, as Russia strengthened its position with Turkey on this issue. The Kremlin, however, continued to maintain good relations with other GCC nations. Overall, Russia appears to Qatar as the key player for its national security vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, even if for now it frankly does not take sides so as not to lose the rest of the Arab world. Moscow wants to improve its image in the Arab world to be a credible alternative to the Americans and also wants to be present in this key sector for national security in the new world panorama. Once again, the rivalry for influence between the United States and Russia has found a new playing field with a better outlook for the country of the czars than for Uncle Sam. Indeed, the crisis has led to the United States finding itself caught between two allies. This is why the United States has so far remained neutral in the crisis so as not to irritate either Saudi Arabia or Qatar. As long as the status quo, i.e. the neutrality of the United States, is maintained, the conflict is therefore likely to last a long time. On the one hand, the United States has many military contracts and oil interests with Saudi Arabia, its historic ally in the region. On the other hand, Qatar has always been the perfect intermediary for discussions with Iran thanks to its diplomatic network and positioning in the region. Furthermore, Qatar has continued its diversification strategy and recently began investing large sums in assets in the United States. Meanwhile, Washington does not want to leave room for Russia or China, which are lurking, to intervene by supporting Qatar. It is therefore vigilant about Qatar's relationship efforts towards these two superpowers and may have to abandon this neutrality in the near future. As for Russia, American investigators believe that Russian hackers were responsible for spreading the false comments by the Emir of Qatar that gave rise to the rift. The underlying objective would be to divide US allies in the area. The Gulf countries are key to the coalition.