A Historical Analysis of Qatar Blockade
A Historical Analysis of Qatar Blockade
The natural resources available in the Gulf region has resulted in a conflict of interests among its players who want to impose their control. The region is characterized by trade routes used to ferry goods and transport oil products. This has made some of the colonizing nations increase their appetite over the rich region. Due to conflicting ideologies, and personal interests, conflict emerged as a result. The struggle of control saw the emergence of tribes such as the Bahrain, Peninsula, Qatar as well as Saudi Arabia which were always in disharmony and quarrel of superiority in the region. Historically, it is argued that Qatar was part of the Al-Ahasa province before gaining its self-rule. Though they were separate regions, it was hard to differentiate the two states as no defined geographical border separated them. As a result of the later, Qatar has been susceptible to external attacks from its neighbours.
In 1798 during the reign of Ibrahim Bin Afisan, Qatar was faced with a serious attack. During that period, Ibrahim was working on extending the territory of his region to the North-East of his state. The idea of Zubarah to organise an attack on Qatar failed because of the strong armies of the local Qataris. The resistance led to uncalled for battled which resulted to massive loss of life and destruction of properties from both fronts. This made Afisan grab control of the Utub ship which was considered the most powerful in the Saudi Army. The control of this portion of the army led the Utub tribe to fly out of Zubura, a factor that leveraged Afisan to take over Peninsula Qatar.
During the reign of Mohammed bin Khalif, the state was not stable; he was in constant disagreements with Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani. The quarrel between the two leaders led to the assassination of Sheikh Al-Naim Ali bin Thamer of Qatar following order was given by the vice president of Bahrain. The action infuriated Qatar which, as a result, threatened to join the region of Saudi Arabia. Another battle occurred when Abu Dhabi joined efforts with Ali- Khalifa. This made the Qataris to fly the region as they could not fight back. Later on, in 1867, another war occurred, and the Qataris were able to assassinate two of the Bahrain leaders. The unpredictable atmosphere in the Gulf region alerted the British who joined with the aim of quelling the fight. The British intervention saw the Bahrain soldier joining the Qatar region.
History has revealed that another disagreement occurred between Ottoman and Qatar. The Ottoman Empire was against the agreement which they had signed with Sheikh Jassen Bin Mohammed Bin Thani of Qatar. They felt that the collaboration had imposed unreasonable trade taxes on the people, and they were instead suffering. The rebellion and cry of a people led to the creation of the post a governor who was to oversee the region’s performance. Sheikh Ahmed was appointed, he was equipped with an army that he used to confront his enemy Sheikh Jassem. The confrontation again resulted in massive loss of lives.
The Middle East region has been in a constant fight of who is who. The availability of oil and other resources have been identified as a major reason for the unending fight between the ruling classes. For example, the current happenings in the region are linked to the trade restriction imposed on three states, the Bahrain state, Saudi Arabia, the UAE as well as Egypt. This control was aligned to nationhood and the safeguarding of the national interests. As a result of the aforementioned, Qatar has been labelled as a terrorist region and all means has been used by its enemies to ensure that it is locked out of the trading blocs. To address the crisis, appropriate measures have been instituted by Qatar to ensure that it mitigates its internal issues, factories and new trade agreement have been established with other nations of the world. This resulted in the region to be self-sustaining.
To address the issues of terrorism, Qatar is establishing a partnership with the UN as well as human right movements. The advent of this initiative peace-building has proved its enemies wrong. Further, the region is also fostering education to its people as a way of enlightening them on the current happenings of the region and the world. To conclude with, it is evident from history that Qatar has encountered lots of setbacks. Its natural resources saw it engage in constant disagreements with its neighbours who wanted to exploit them. Despite the trade restrictions that were put on Qatar, the state remained strong and firm; it never submitted to defeat.
