Trump’s plan to end Qatar-Saudi Arabia deadlock fails
By John Bowden - 09/09/17 06:58 PM EDT President Trump's plan to de-escalate the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar ended in failure this week after the two countries released conflicting statements hours after a phone call organized by Trump.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that a phone call late Friday between the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, was meant to find common ground between the two nations. Instead, the two countries attacked each other hours later in the media over which country capitulated and agreed to peace negotiations first.
“The problem is as much about appearing to not capitulate to the other side as it is trying to solve any problems,” Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute told the Times.
“Given the hypersensitivity of both sides to appearing weak,” he added, “it makes the problem considerably harder to solve.”
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http://thehill.com/policy/international/349952-trumps-plan-to-end-qatar-saudi-arabia-deadlock-fails
