Quixotic Qatar

The Qatar crisis is no surprise for those who follow the Middle East closely and know enough about this small country's curious rise as a regional player. Many observers of Mideast politics have defined the process of the rise and fall as Qatar as a story of its failed ambitions, but the politics of Qatar is more complex. The convenient version of the story is that Qatar sought an outsized role in regional politics which led to an inevitable clash with its more powerful neighbor Saudi Arabia and with its rival Gulf states. In addition, the sympathizers of Qatari politics have posited an argument that this small and proud country is being punished by global and regional powers for its "independent" politics, its ties with Iran and the "Palestinian resistance," namely, Hamas.    

Nevertheless, Qatar which is portrayed as a quixotic little country, has neither been a naive political actor nor ever been in a position to pursue "independent" politics. On the contrary, Sheikh Hamad deposed his father and invented the new politics and the "brand" of Qatar only with the help of his powerful Western allies. So much so that, when the father, Sheikh Khalifa, tried to regain power, his assets were frozen with the help of Washington law firm Patton Boggs in 1996. Since then, Qatar has changed its ways; it hosts the biggest U.S. base in the region, founded the controversial Al Jazeera news channel and started its hyper-active foreign politics as a supposedly "regional mediator." Qatar hosted Muslim Brotherhood leaders, many other opposition figures and even members of the Taliban, all without risking its Western ties; in fact, this small country was encouraged by its powerful allies to play such a role. 

After the Syrian affair started, Qatar continued to be...