THE SAUDI-QATARI COLD WAR: ONE CLIENT STATE MARGINALIZES ANOTHER

What is Qatar known for? You guessed it: Al-Jazeerah. And what does Al-Jazeerah do--other than broadcast a cultist's threats of cold-blooded massacres against innocent civilians? It hosts programs featuring opposition figures from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, and runs documentaries about royal families that these perceive as debasing. Qatar, 600,000 in population, is now standing tall.

For America's Central Command is no longer in Tampa--but in Adid--the Qatari base that has cost $1.4 billion and should soon be completed. With the United States firmly established in Qatar, Sheikh Hamad can now look east (Iran) and west (Saudi Arabia) and smile: he has achieved true independence and security. And rich he is: Qatar is known to possess over the third largest reserves of natural gas in the world.

Qatar's maneuvering is not without justification. Qatar has learned the lessons of an earlier decade. Saudi Arabia, the leader in the Arabian Peninsula, had failed in its mediation of a border dispute between Qatar and Bahrain. Too, Saudi Arabia had failed in preventing Iran from occupying three islands that belong to the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, Saudi Arabia had failed to stop Iraq from invading a fellow Gulf country--Kuwait. What good then is Saudi protection, or diplomacy, with no effective armed forces to back it up?

Many are angry with Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar and the owner of Al-Jazeerah. He had snubbed Saudi Arabia and most other Arab countries by refusing to rein in his television station. Too, he has initiated progressive reforms that some of these states, Saudi Arabia in particular, are unable to emulate, to the chagrin of a sizeable section of their population. For instance, Hamad had given women the right to vote. His wife, the Sheikhah Moza, is known as a liberal and a champion of educational programs and she campaigns for women's rights--someone who is unusual to the Gulf. In short, Shaikh Hamad, already dear to America's military, has set his country on a progressive course that will endear him to America's liberals. A superb achievement.

Saudi Arabia has launched its own media campaign against Qatar, accusing it of fostering prematurely warm relations with Israel (Qatar has opened a commercial and liaison office with Israel). Surprisingly, at least one major Palestinian (and not Saudi-financed) nationalist media source has remained pro-Qatar in spite of that country's opening towards Israel. Why? SPC attributes this paradox to money. Shaikh Hamad seems to be generous with the media. But Al-Jazeerah and its owner may soon face a dose of their own medicine: it is rumored that Crown Prince Abdallah has provided the funds necessary to start a station similar to Al-Jazeerah, with the help of a successful Lebanese television station.

Part of Saudi Arabia's bitterness stems from the fact that Qatar's newly-found independence has cost the GCC its cohesiveness. For all practical purposes, that organization is dead, in good part because Gulf countries are drawing their security directly from the United States, without brokerage. Even poor Yemen, rife with tribal and clannish divisions, has found a way to establish a direct relationship with the United States, albeit one that would continue, perhaps worsen, the tradition of low-level civil conflict in that country. Suddenly, very few need Saudi Arabia.

Though, not Yemen. For that country has a large contingent of workers in the Kingdom, and a long border from where the bin Ladennites can infiltrate, back and forth, and endanger the security of both countries. Cooperation, thus, is a must. Hence the Saudi initiative to bring poor Yemen into the club of the rich: the GCC.

Qatar should beware: the Kingdom is on a course of establishing yet new ways to serve the United States, and the United States could still prove unreliable should it, for example, cement a deal with Iran (unlikely, but possible) and leave the little countries at the mercy of the Persian power. So, Plus ca change...