Israel

Qatar

Economics

Military & Security

Politics

Following Israel's strike on Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 9, the European Union, the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and others criticized the attack, Al Jazeera reported the same day.

Israel: International Condemnation Follows Israeli Airstrike on Qatar

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

United States

Qatar forwarded a draft peace deal to the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwandan-backed M23 that would involve a seven-month phased approach to resolving their conflict, Jeune Afrique reported on Aug. 18.

Congo: Qatar Forwards Draft Peace Deal With M23

Angola

Botswana

Burundi

Central African Republic

Gabon

Mozambique

Sudan

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Al Mansour Group chair and member of the Qatari royal family Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor al-Thani kicked off a tour of 10 countries across central and southern Africa, Radio France Internationale reported on Aug. 13.

Qatar: Prominent Royal Family Member Kicks Off Africa Tour 

Bahrain

Iran

Kuwait

Oman

Energy

Gulf Arab states condemned Israel's June 13 attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets in a series of official statements, Al Jazeera reported on June 13. 

GCC, Israel: GCC Countries Condemn Israeli Attacks on Iran

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

China

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Malaysia hosted the inaugural Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council-China trilateral summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Channel News Asia reported on May 27.

Asia-Pacific, MENA: ASEAN-GCC-China Inaugural Summit Marks Deeper Economic Alignment

The United States and Qatar committed to a $1.2 trillion "economic exchange," Qatar Airways' $200 billion purchase of 160 Boeing jets, and defense deals, including the Qatari acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles, Reuters reported on May 14.

U.S., Qatar: Governments Sign Economic Commitments, Defense Deals

Syria

Turkey

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would soon lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, though he did not mention specific demands Syria had met to earn such sanctions relief, Al Jazeera reported on May 13.

U.S., Syria: Trump Says U.S. Will Lift Sanctions on Syria

Qatar will provide $29 million a month to Syria to help pay civil servant salaries for at least the next three months, Reuters reported on May 7, citing Syria's finance minister.

Syria: Qatar Gains U.S. Sanctions Exemptions To Pay Syrian Civil Servant Salaries

Assessments

Egypt

Iraq

Lebanon

Yemen

A picture taken from a distance shows the damaged building (L) in the Qatari compound housing members of Hamas' political bureau on Sept. 10, 2025. Israel targeted the building the previous day in a strike in Qatar's capital, Doha. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Israel's Sept. 9 airstrikes in Qatar will likely harden the stances of Iranian-backed groups, keep normalization with Saudi Arabia off the table and drive more assertive postures from other regional states.

The Regional Implications of Israel's Strikes in Qatar

Snapshots

Palestinian Territories

Smoke billows after explosions in Qatar's capital of Doha on Sept. 9. The attack will reduce the odds of a ceasefire in Gaza as Qatar walks back from its role as mediator and reassesses its regional diplomatic and security strategy.

The attack will reduce the odds of a ceasefire in Gaza as Qatar walks back from its role as mediator and reassesses its regional diplomatic and security strategy.

Israel's Attack on Hamas' Political Leadership Scrambles Qatar's Regional Role

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jassim al-Budaiwi and the foreign ministers from the six GCC countries (Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates) pose for a group photo during the GCC foreign minister meeting in Kuwait City on June 2, 2025.

Despite global economic uncertainty and oil price volatility, Gulf Arab states are expected to sustain solid economic growth, driven by strong fundamentals, substantial buffers and ongoing diversification efforts.

Solid Fundamentals Shield GCC Economies From Global Volatility

Media

Podcasts

How have Gulf Arab states' positions on the Israel-Iran conflict evolved?

Essential Geopolitics: The Future of Gulf-Iranian Relations

Columns

On Geopolitics

Vehicles drive along a main thoroughfare past a billboard that reads in Farsi and Hebrew: "A severe blow... The vile and villainous Zionist regime (Israel) has made a grave mistake,” in central Tehran on June 24, 2025. 

The war has weakened Iran, but has also shifted regional perceptions of Israel as a destabilizing force, prompting Gulf states to reassess alliances, Turkey to emerge as a rival, and raising the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

Assessing the Regional Impact of the Israel-Iran War, Part 2

Global Trade

Over the next decade, Gulf Arab states will increase oil and gas exports to emerging Asian markets, seeking alternatives to the U.S. amid tariff uncertainty. But the region's military and tech ties with the U.S. will remain strong.

Geopolitics of Trade: Gulf Arab States Balance Diversification With Enduring U.S. Ties

A photo taken on June 23, 2025, shows the remnants of an Iranian missile intercepted over Qatar. 

U.S.-Iran Relations

Absent further retaliation, Iran's June 23 attack offers a path to de-escalation, but there is still a chance, albeit slim, that additional U.S. strikes trigger a wider conflict.

With a Telegraphed Attack on a U.S. Base in Qatar, Iran Offers an Off-Ramp To Ease Tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump (right) interacts with Oman Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Asaad (second from right) as they prepare to pose for photos with leaders during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Leaders' Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025.

Despite Trump's recent sharp words on his predecessor's "forever wars," U.S. trade and energy interests will keep him engaged in the region, though in ways that rely more on economic and diplomatic leverage, as opposed to military campaigns.

Is the Era of U.S. Interventionism in the Middle East Over?

Somalia

Europe

Philippe Lazzarini (C), the commissioner general for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, attends a humanitarian conference for Gaza in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 2, 2024, amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war.

Egypt's economic limitations will continue to restrain its assertiveness in foreign policy, constraining its ability to project power in the region.

Egypt's Economic Priorities Sideline Assertive Foreign Policy

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan welcomes his Syrian counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani before attending an Arab officials' meeting in Riyadh on Jan. 12, 2025.

Saudi Arabia's re-engagement with Lebanon, Syria and Iraq aims to counterbalance Turkey, Qatar and Iran but faces limits due to sectarian politics and foreign interference, which may make Riyadh more assertive over time.

Saudi Arabia Moves To Counterbalance Turkey and Qatar, Replace Iran in the Levant

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani holds a press conference in Doha on Jan. 15, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Despite Qatar's success in getting Hamas to accept a ceasefire with Israel, Trump will remain critical of Doha's support for Islamist movements in the region.

For Qatar, the Gaza Ceasefire Will Ease U.S. Pressure -- For Now

Cote d'Ivoire

Ghana

Kenya

Nigeria

Argentina

Brazil

Canada

Ecuador

Mexico

Algeria

Jordan

Tunisia

Taiwan

Ukraine

Belarus

Russia

Pakistan

World map on a dark digital background representing global communication and global finances.

Cyber

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025 highlights high-impact, low-probability risks and trends from the annual forecast presented in more extreme terms.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025

Qatar occupies the Qatar Peninsula, a thumb of land jutting into the middle of the Persian Gulf. It has one land border with Saudi Arabia, but shares waters with Bahrain, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It has no surface rivers or lakes, and its water supply is buried beneath the sandy desert that is practically the country’s only topographical feature. It lacks forests and, prior to the modern era, could not develop an indigenous agricultural sector.    This makes the country uniquely dependent on the outside world for survival. Qatar possesses proven 885.3 trillion feet of natural gas reserves just beneath the waves of the Gulf in a field it shares with Iran, and it makes Qatar the third-largest holder of light natural gas in the world and the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Since it began exporting LNG, Qatar has become the richest country on Earth per capita. The exports pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz or are sent through an undersea pipeline to the United Arab Emirates.     After Qatar ceased being a British protectorate in 1971, its royal family declined an offer to join the federation of the United Arab Emirates and chose to chart an independent course. Qatar joined the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional bloc, in 1981, and although it was officially neutral in the Iran-Iraq War, Qatar joined the coalition to evict Iraq from Kuwait in 1991. In 1996, Qatar began hosting U.S. troops at its Al Udeid air base and opened the offices of the state-sponsored Al Jazeera media outlet. In 2010, it was awarded the rights to the 2022 World Cup.    Its geopolitical position makes Qatar uniquely reliant on open trade for prosperity and outside powers for security. It must have reliable trade routes to export its LNG, and it requires outside sponsors to prevent Saudi Arabia or Iran from gaining too much influence over it. For now, it relies on the United States to provide both. That alliance allows Qatar to maintain a precarious balance against geographically advantaged neighbors.

SITUATION REPORTS

Israel: International Condemnation Follows Israeli Airstrike on Qatar

Congo: Qatar Forwards Draft Peace Deal With M23

Qatar: Prominent Royal Family Member Kicks Off Africa Tour

GCC, Israel: GCC Countries Condemn Israeli Attacks on Iran

Asia-Pacific, MENA: ASEAN-GCC-China Inaugural Summit Marks Deeper Economic Alignment

U.S., Qatar: Governments Sign Economic Commitments, Defense Deals

U.S., Syria: Trump Says U.S. Will Lift Sanctions on Syria

Syria: Qatar Gains U.S. Sanctions Exemptions To Pay Syrian Civil Servant Salaries

Forecasts

ANALYSES

SECTIONS

Explore

Subscribe

Help & Support