The contribution of British diplomacy to the resolution of the Qatari crisis (2017-2021)

Abstract

This study analyzes the contribution of British diplomacy in resolving the Qatari diplomatic crisis of 2017, which became one of the significant challenges for the British foreign policy strategy "Global Britain". The purpose of this work is to identify the position of the United Kingdom in relation to the parties that are active actors in the Qatari crisis. The work used factor analysis, through which the political and socio-economic planes of interaction between the UK and Qatar and the states initiating the diplomatic blockade were considered. The disclosure of the problem of this study became even more relevant after on January 5, 2021, at a meeting of the GCC in the city of Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt signed a statement of reconciliation with Qatar. Based on the results of the analysis, it was confirmed that the United Kingdom, for political, strategic, financial, and economic reasons, equally values its ties with both the State of Qatar and the coalition of its opponents. Due to the geopolitical significance of the Persian Gulf region, the British authorities could not allow the escalation of the conflict, which could have a negative impact on the world economy, and on the interests of Great Britain in the region. Thus, British diplomacy adopted a discreetly optimal and balanced course of managing the crisis to neutralize the possibility of a large-scale conflict and realize its own interests.