When the quartet of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched an economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar last summer, they hoped to swiftly force Doha to change its behavior in a whole host of areas, from closing down the Al Jazeera television network to cutting ties with Iran and Turkey.
It hasn’t quite worked out as they hoped. Instead of bending to the will of its four neighbours Qatar has fought back, building new trade links with other countries and fighting a canny diplomatic battle against its adversaries.
One unexpected consequence of the dispute is that Qatar has become one of the most open countries in the world to visitors. Soon after the boycott was launched, Qatar began to reform its visa rules, expanding the number of countries it offered visa-free entry to and extending the time period of transit visas for passengers wanting to take a look around between flights.
To read more, click here.
Comments
Facebook
Twitter
Contact
Elan.tv
I think it’s better for their economy that they are looking elsewhere new partners. The region is in the middle of some serious growing pains.