The Dangerous Radical Alignment

Not surprisingly, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Qatar since 2017, in an attempt to check the subversive behavior of Doha, to little avail.

Qatar spends enormous amounts of money in systematic support for the nefarious activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and its branches all over the world. The Muslim Brotherhood is an anti-Western and anti-democratic organization. Qatar also funds numerous jihadist groups, and many Qatari citizens have been convicted of regional terrorist activities.

Qatar also uses its influential Al Jazeera television network to undermine the stability of its pro-Western Arab neighbors. The US recently concluded that Al Jazeera is not a media outlet, but a lobbying outfit. As far back as the so-called “Arab Spring,” Al Jazeera fomented trouble. Today, Qatar seeks to subvert the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a regime that put an end to the dangerous Muslim Brotherhood–backed presidency of Mohamed Morsi.

Qatar has called in Turkish help. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, which also is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood has stationed 5,000 soldiers on Qatar’s soil to defend the sheikdom. Moreover, Qatar has supported Erdogan’s adventurist foreign policy that is driven by Ottoman and Islamist impulses. 

Qatar has helped Erdogan overcome the economic difficulties of recent years. Qatar is also financing the Turkish intervention in the civil war in Libya, on the side of the Tripoli government, whose Islamist links are well known, against Egypt, which backs the other protagonists in Libya.

Both countries have opposed the US-orchestrated Israel-UAE peace agreement. Both countries are trying to undermine the stability of Egypt. Ankara and Doha openly support Hamas and facilitate Hezbollah-Hamas cooperation. 

Turkish and Qatari actions accentuate tensions within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance that could devolve into Greek-Turkish and French-Turkish military confrontations.