Qatari Blockade case study

 Research Problem: In the recent months, there has been a crisis going on within the Persian Gulf. Qatar is being cut off by four countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt. They have even gone to the lengths of sending the Qatari officials stationed in those countries back to Qatar. The reason these four countries are calling a “Diplomatic break” with Qatar is because Qatar is supposedly supporting terrorist groups as well as being too friendly with Iran, which is an enemy of the Gulf. This means that Qatar has to be very careful with their next actions and decide which is more important to them; supporting these people, or publicly standing up against those groups and showing their allegiance to the four countries who were formerly their allies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to look deeply into the relationship of Qatar with these four countries, who cut ties off with Qatar. I want to find out if Qatar is really supporting these groups or if this information is just, “The straw that broke the camel’s back.” If they are not supporting the terrorist groups and Iran this is completely unjust and needs to be corrected.

Hypothesis: Qatar will need to understand that the four countries are border countries, which makes it Qatar’s best interest to settle the problem before it gets too big to repair. If they decide they would rather support groups in which these countries oppose there could be more serious conflicts to come.

Significance: I think this research topic is significant because I am from Qatar, and this is directly related to politics between them and other countries. This correlates with the material covered in this class as well as the fact that it directly affects my life.