New regional balance enters new year

The Middle East entered the new year with a new balance of power.

Two weeks ago, Qatar and Egypt started normalizing their relations. This reconciliation, however, affects not only these two countries, but also the wider region to a great extent and implies a newly emerging equilibrium.

Qatar’s relations with Egypt have been strained since the Hosni Mubarak era. The only exception to this are the 369 days during the rule of former President Mohamed Morsi, who is a Muslim Brotherhood member. The tensions between the two countries reached an apex during the governance of the current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who helped to topple before replacing Morsi himself.

The main reason for the tensions has been Qatar’s support for the Brotherhood. Egypt has always claimed that Qatar has been funding the organization to undermine Egypt’s stability. Moreover, el-Sisi put the MB on a list of terrorist organizations in December 2013.

The other reason is Hamas. Qatar has been one of the main supporters of the Islamist organization. El-Sisi, on the other hand, put Hamas on the terrorist list right after he seized power in July 2013. The Egyptian court also banned all activities of Hamas in Egypt, ordering the closure of its offices. El-Sisi also readopted Egypt’s “pre-Morsi” Palestine policy by trying to isolate Gaza which is under Hamas’ control. In addition to all of these, Qatar has also revealed its discomfort with Morsi’s removal by el-Sisi.

Qatar’s relations with the Gulf countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Jordan have also been tense. These countries have been strongly opposed to the MB. Last March Saudi Arabia declared the MB a terrorist group. And so did the UAE last November...