Tension in Ukraine has stolen the limelight of the international news this week as the country drew Russia and the US into a verbal confrontation that looked like it could escalate further. In mid-week, however, an unusual piece of diplomatic news emerged from the Arabian Gulf.

A public statement by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced that they were withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar, a fellow member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Anyone who follows the Gulf and its politics would know that the news, despite the restrained language, is dramatic.

The GCC is made up of the region’s conservative monarchies and principalities. It has usually behaved as a very tight-knit group. Tensions and disagreements behind closed doors have been known to occur, especially when the smaller states bridled at having to follow the lead or wishes of the regional giant, Saudi Arabia. Those disagreements, however, never made it out into the public eye.

The high level of cooperation and coordination of the GCC distinguishes it from the other regions of the Arab world. Public quarrels, closed borders and outright conflicts have been known to take place between Algeria and Morocco, between Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya and all his neighbours, Syria and Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinians and most of their neighbours…

The GCC was different. Disagreements were not rare. Many of the GCC members even have border disputes with each other. Yet, the path they pursued to resolve the outstanding questions was the amicable one.

Even now, Qatar is attempting to diffuse the situation. It immediately expressed regret and surprise and announced that it was not going to retaliate in kind. Kuwait was named as a mediator. Oman appears to be staying out of the dispute altogether.

It remains to be seen whether the Gulf continues to be a safe haven

The statement explained the reason for the unprecedented breaking of the ranks. Last November, it said, all GCC members had agreed not to back any group that threatened the security of any other GCC member. The proscribed actions would have included not just support for militarised groups but also political ones and hostile media.

Qatar signed up to this agreement as well. Apparently, however, it has continued to support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and provide cover for a preacher who is one of the Brotherhood’s spiritual guides, Yusuf Qaradawi. He is based in Qatar and broadcasts from Al Jazeera. The Brotherhood is seen as particularly threatening by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

It rejects the dynastic principle of monarchies. Al Jazeera is thought to be sympathetic to the Brotherhood, while broadcasting criticisms of the monarchies.

The Saudi-UAE-Bahraini statement added that they had tried their best to make Qatar see things their way. They will continue to place pressure on Qatar until it has taken concrete steps to revise its policies.

It is a sign of the strength of this statement that Egypt has now also joined in the pressure. Qatar has been known to support the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi. Saudi Arabia reacted by granting generous loans to the current Egyptian government.

Now, this week, Egypt has announced that it will begin to subject Qatari citizens to additional security checks (“to make sure they are not involved in hostile acts against Egypt, either through the media or business”).

Furthermore, visas will be required even for diplomats and special passport holders.

At the heart of this dispute is the Arab Spring, which, in the Gulf, has unfolded differently from the way it has in other regions.

In 2011, the Gulf was markedly less affected by the protests than other parts of the world. This is not to say that there were no protests at all. Practically every Gulf country did have protests. But the scale in almost all of them was of a smaller degree than elsewhere.

In Bahrain, there were dramatic protests and equally dramatic a reaction. Police hit hard at protesters and doctors treating the wounded were reported to have been intimidated by the forces of law and order.

The reaction from the other Gulf countries was swift. Armed forces rolled into Bahrain to protect, it was said, strategic petroleum assets. The message, however, was sent and received.

While protests were held in other countries, too, not least in Saudi Arabia, promises, grants and salary increases helped calm the situation down.

In the wake of all this, the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, began to support various groups agitating in other Arab countries. Qatar was especially active. It sided openly with the Libyan rebels. It financed the Islamists in Tunisia and supported Morsi in Egypt.

In other words, Qatar saw the Arab Spring as an opportunity to increase its clout. In Syria, it began to support a rebel faction that both Saudi Arabia and the US have disapproved of.

In one way, Qatar has been exceptional in the way it has sought not to waste the crisis of the Arab Spring. In another way, however, it is not alone.

The relative safety of the Gulf has seen a lot of Arab money transferred over to the area from the Arab Spring countries. In Dubai, the process has gone further. A real estate boom has been reported as affluent Arabs left their troubled countries.

It remains to be seen whether the Gulf continues to be a safe haven. Some of the monarchies’ critics claim that the fuse there is simply burning more slowly. I think that is putting it too strongly but we shall see.

John Attard Montalto is a Labour member of the European Parliament.

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