Saudi Allies Have Few Economic Tools to Pressure Qatar

Saudi Arabia’s drive to make Qatar abandon its embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood may founder because of the limited leverage the Saudis and their allies can exercise over the world’s richest country.

Qatar traded more with Singapore in 2012 than it did with the three Gulf neighbors -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- that withdrew their ambassadors from Doha last week to protest the Brotherhood connection. With markets for its natural gas in the U.S. and Asia, and a portfolio of overseas investments that includes stakes in Volkswagen AG and Barclays Plc, Qatar is well placed to resist the diplomatic pressure, though it’s vulnerable if Saudi Arabia were to close its land border.