© Reuters/Naseem ZeitoonA man looks at pigeons at Souq Waqif market in Doha, Qatar, June 6, 2017.
This is partly because the Saudi-led coalition of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt have over-reached in their showdown with Qatar. The tiny gas-rich emirate may be a lightweight in terms of territorial size and population, but it is proving to be no push-over.
And there are sound reasons why the Qataris are defiant. Owing to its superabundant natural gas reserves and a native population of only some 300,000, Qatar is the richest country in the world on a per capita basis. The blockade mounted by the other Arab countries is not harming the emirate, especially given that it has found alternative trading sources for food, water and other goods from Turkey and Iran.
Since the imposed deadline nearly two weeks ago by the Saudi group, Qatar has adamantly said it would not acquiesce to a list of severe demands. Those demands included the Al Thani rulers in Doha ceasing all diplomatic ties with Iran, expelling Turkish troops from the territory, financial reparations, and closing down the Al Jazeera news station. It was always an unrealistic ultimatum. As the Qatari rulers noted, the move was simply an audacious bid to over-ride the country's sovereignty.
Comment: This is what happens when you compound stupid on top of stupid: American foreign policy. There is NO military solution to North Korea. And Xi is 100% correct when it comes to THAAD. But good luck getting anyone in the American establishment to accept that. They'd insist 2+2=5 if Xi insisted that it equals 4.