Can the United States "see the light again" by mediating the Qatar crisis?
Cctv newsOn the 11th, US Secretary of State Tillerson arrived in Doha, Qatar, and continued to mediate the crisis of Qatar breaking diplomatic relations. On the same day, Qatar and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on combating the financing of terrorism.
Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed
On the same day, Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed and Tillerson held a press conference. Muhammad said that the memorandum was signed within the framework of continuous cooperation between the two countries. Qatar and the United States discussed this memorandum for four weeks, which has no direct or indirect relationship with the crisis of breaking diplomatic relations. He called on the countries that broke diplomatic relations to join it.
US: The United States and Canada will share the responsibility for counter-terrorism.
US Secretary of State Tillerson
Tillerson said that the United States and Qatar will make more efforts to track funding sources, share information, strengthen cooperation and ensure regional security. He said that the United States and Qatar will share the responsibility and obligation of counter-terrorism.
Foreign ministers’ meeting of the four countries
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced that they had broken diplomatic relations with Qatar on the grounds of "supporting terrorism" and "undermining regional security" and imposed an embargo on Qatar. On June 23rd, the four countries handed over a 13-point request document aimed at resolving the crisis to Qatar through Kuwait. On July 5, the four countries issued a joint statement in Cairo, saying that Qatar’s response to the 13-point request was not satisfactory. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar expressed regret.
Tillerson began to visit many countries in the Middle East on the 10th to mediate the crisis of Qatar breaking diplomatic relations.
Saudi Arabia and other four countries: sanctions against cards will continue.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt issued a joint statement on the 11th in response to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Qatar and the United States to combat the financing of terrorism, saying that the four countries will monitor whether Qatar fulfills the memorandum and the sanctions against Qatar will continue.
According to the statement, Qatar has failed to implement the Riyadh Agreement and its Supplementary Provisions in the past three years, and continues to support terrorist activities and interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. Therefore, Saudi Arabia and other four countries put forward 13 requirements to Qatar as a condition for solving the crisis of breaking off diplomatic relations.
The statement said that in view of Qatar’s non-compliance with the agreement, Saudi Arabia and other four countries believe that the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Qatar and the United States is not enough, and the sanctions imposed by the four countries on Qatar will continue until Qatar meets the requirements put forward by the four countries.
What about "red face" and "white face" singing together to mediate?
Since Qatar broke off diplomatic relations, the trend of the United States has been concerned by international public opinion. The storm of breaking off diplomatic relations occurred shortly after US President Trump visited Saudi Arabia. After the storm, Trump also repeatedly voiced his voice, which made it difficult for the United States to get rid of the suspicion of the initiator. After Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries put forward a series of conditions for the resumption of diplomatic relations to Qatar a few days ago, the relevant parties started intensive diplomatic interaction, and the United States, which was suspected of being the initiator, seemed to have begun to sing a "white face" and rushed to mediate. Why?
Will Tillerson’s visit bring a turning point to the long-stalled crisis of breaking off diplomatic relations in the Middle East?
After Qatar broke off diplomatic relations, although Kuwait and other countries tried to mediate, Germany, Britain and other foreign ministers went to the Middle East to mediate, the current situation has not made any progress. However, the US Secretary of State Tillerson’s visit is optimistic in Qatar, and Abdullah, editor-in-chief of one of Qatar’s largest newspapers, believes that Tillerson’s visit is crucial to the resolution of the crisis.
Abdullah said that the crisis of breaking diplomatic relations in the Middle East occurred after US President Trump visited Saudi Arabia, and Tillerson’s visit also meant that the United States hoped to solve the crisis of breaking diplomatic relations.
Regarding the future of the GCC, some analysts believe that the ongoing crisis and mutual accusations are likely to lead to the GCC falling apart. Abdullah believes that the mechanism of the GCC determines that Qatar will not be easily "kicked out" of the organization, and the crisis of breaking diplomatic relations will not last long.
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At the beginning of the storm of breaking off diplomatic relations, the US government expressed confusion
On June 5, four countries, including Saudi Arabia, announced that they had broken diplomatic relations with Qatar on the grounds of "supporting terrorism" and "undermining regional security", and imposed an embargo and blockade on Qatar. In this regard, many countries have called for the settlement of disputes through dialogue, while the attitude of the US government towards the Qatar issue is inconsistent and confusing.
On June 6, US President Trump sent three tweets on Twitter to express his position on "breaking off the storm". Two of them clearly expressed their support for Saudi Arabia and other countries to isolate Qatar.
But shortly thereafter, the State Council issued the opposite statement. US Secretary of State Tillerson called on all parties to handle conflicts through peaceful dialogue, saying that the United States is willing to play the role of mediator and promote reconciliation. US Defense Secretary Matisse also said that the relationship between the United States and the Gulf countries will not be affected, and cracking down on extremist organizations is the common goal of the United States and the Gulf countries.
US President Trump
Then on June 9, Trump once again publicly accused Qatar of "supporting terrorism for a long time".
Also on June 9, US Secretary of State Tillerson issued a statement calling on Saudi Arabia and other countries to immediately lift the "blockade" against Qatar and not to further escalate the situation.
In fact, this is not the first time that the attitude of the President of the United States is inconsistent with that of the State Council and the Ministry of National Defense. Some analysts believe that "a good COP and a bad COP" is a common means for various departments of the US government to face other countries.
At the beginning of July, after Saudi Arabia and other countries put forward the 13-point conditions for the resumption of diplomatic relations with Qatar, the relevant parties launched intensive diplomatic mediation interaction, and Trump’s attitude seemed to have changed — — When talking on the phone with Egyptian President Seyce, Trump stressed that all parties concerned should solve the problem through constructive consultation. Then, US Secretary of State Tillerson began his mediation trip in the Middle East.
At the same time, some analysts pointed out that the United States is willing to mediate because the United States is worried that the crisis of breaking off diplomatic relations will continue to affect the US military action against terrorism. In addition, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are important allies of the United States. Ending this diplomatic storm will also enable the United States to implement the arms deals reached with Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively.
It is in the interest of the United States that many countries in the Middle East are "split and continuous"
Observers believe that this move by the United States not only has the intention of stopping when it is good, but also has the consideration of preventing the storm of breaking diplomatic relations from further fermenting, thus damaging the interests of the United States — — The constant contradictions and mutual suspicions among Arab countries in the Gulf are obviously conducive to the United States’ intervention in Gulf affairs, but the complete break-up of these countries will give Iran an opportunity and even reap profits, which the United States does not want to see. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the United States to "split and continue" among the Arab countries in the Gulf.