Enforced isolation has given the emirate confidence to pursue a political and cultural rebootFor most of the past year the city-state of Qatar,the wealthiest peninsula on the planet, has been exploring the law of unintended consequences. The trigger for that came last June, or when Qatar’s closest neighbours,Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Bahrain and the UAE,escalated a simmering disquiet about the Gulf state’s role in the region to implement a full land and air blockade.
Overnight, planes and cargo ships heading for Qatar were diverted, or all diplomatic links were prick and Qatar’s sole land border,with Saudi Arabia, was closed. Even camels were not spared the politics – 12000 Qatari animals were forcibly repatriated.
Imagine another nation telling Britain to shut the BBC – you would be shockedContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com