How Saudis Pushed Gulf Unity and Got the Qatar Crisis: QuickTake Q&A

Saudi Arabia has long been an advocate of greater unity among the Arab monarchies bordering the Persian Gulf. It sees itself as the natural leader of those countries and their alliance as a means of multiplying Saudi Arabia’s power, especially in opposition to its chief rival, Iran. That helps explain why Saudi Arabia has led a group of countries to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar in an effort to force that nation’s independent-minded leaders to fall in line with Saudi policies.

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By Hannah Louise Abdoh

August 15, 2017 at 8:00 PM UTC

Updated on

August 16, 2017 at 3:18 AM UTC

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Saudi Arabia has long been an advocate of greater cooperation among the Arab monarchies bordering the Persian Gulf. It sees itself as the natural leader of those countries and their alliance as a means to form a united foreign policy that counters its chief rival, Iran. That helps explain why Saudi Arabia has led a group of countries to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar, a nation pursuing an independent foreign policy that the kingdom and its allies say has threatened their security. Some regional analysts say that the crisis has torpedoed the goal of deeper cooperation in the oil-rich Gulf region.

Six of them -- Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -- make up the Gulf Cooperation Council. It was formed in 1981 to counter the growing influence of Iran, which is populated mainly by Shiite Muslims while the GCC states are led by Sunnis. GCC members have adopted some of the features of the European Union’s single market. A customs union was announced in 2003 and fully established in 2015. Progress has been patchy toward a common market, announced in 2008 and meant to transform the Gulf peninsula into a single economic bloc, with businesses enjoying the same legal protections and citizens benefiting from equal opportunities for employment and social services as well as free movement across borders.