Abstract
This chapter shows that Qatar’s enhanced trilateral relations with Iran and Turkey has been both a cause and result of the blockade. Iran’s government exhibited its geopolitical pragmatism in exploiting a regional rift within the GCC to strengthen its position vis-à-vis a regional competitor, Saudi Arabia, and shored up geopolitical support for its government in the face of increased tensions with the United States and a tightening sanctions regime. Turkey took advantage of the blockade to solidify its self-representation as an honest broker in the Middle East. Thus, the emergence of stronger trilateral relations between Qatar, Turkey, and Iran indicates an unexpected result of the Saudi-led blockade.
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Riggs, R.J. (2021). The Qatar–Iran–Turkey Nexus: Shifts in Political Alliances and Economic Diversification in the Gulf Crisis. In: Zweiri, M., Rahman, M.M., Kamal, A. (eds) The 2017 Gulf Crisis . Gulf Studies, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8735-1_11
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