In this conversation with Bassam Haddad, Abdullah Al-Arian discusses the roots of the confrontation between Qatar and several GCC states, and identifies some of the differences in their posture toward some of the various issues in the Arab region. He also explores the reasons behind the timing of the current escalation and the implications of this crisis for some of the region`s conflicts.
Abdullah Al-Arian is an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University`s School of Foreign Service in Qatar and author of Answering the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat`s Egypt (Oxford University Press, 2014). He is also co-editor of Jadaliyya’s Critical Currents in Islam page.