Saudis have a lot to lose, even if they win the standoff with Qatar
Riyadh — Saudi Arabia dwarfs Qatar on almost any measure, yet there are plenty of ways the tussle between the Gulf neighbours could end up hurting the world’s biggest oil exporter — even if it wins. All week the Saudis and their allies have ratcheted up pressure on Qatar, cutting diplomatic ties and imposing a blockade by land, sea and air. The stated goal is to force Qatar to stop cosying up to Saudi Arabia’s rival Iran and bankrolling Islamist groups across the region. Qatar says it is being punished for things it did not do. The disagreement is longstanding. The scale of the current crisis is new, and it has erupted into a Middle East already polarised by war. Saudi Arabia has struggled to impose its will in Syria and Yemen. Now discord has spread to the inner circle of Gulf monarchies, at a time when the Saudis and their young Prince Mohammed bin Salman are urgently seeking foreign investment to modernise an oil-dependent economy. "Most worrying is that Saudi Arabia and the UAE ...
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