The crisis in Qatar has been dominating headlines since 5 June 2017. The crisis began when several neighbouring countries abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar. These countries included Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt initially. The severing of relations included withdrawing ambassadors, imposing trade and travel bans, and shutting down shipping lanes and airspace.
The Saudi-led coalition cited Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism as the main reason for their actions, insisting Qatar has violated a 2014 agreement with the other 5 members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Saudi Arabia and other countries have also criticized the Qatari broadcasting organization Al Jazeera and also Qatar’s relations with Ira
n. Qatar has denied all the claims.
SRMS IBS conducted a Parliamentary Session for the PGDM 2016–2018 batch where they were divided into 4 groups representing 4 powers in this crisis: Qataris, Americans, Saudis, and the mediating Kuwaitis. The Qatari Group had to defend the allegations made against them, the Americans were the power bloc of the region with considerable influence over everyone, the Saudis were the leader of the group that initiated the blockade against Qatar, and the Kuwaitis (also members of the GCC) were the mediators between the Saudi-led group and Qatar.
The session proved informative for students and attendees. All students participated with great enthusiasm leading to the broadening of their knowledge of the crisis in particular and geopolitics in general.
