Saudi-Qatari Rapprochement?

Today marked the first official trip abroad by the new Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.  Al-Thani met with his Saudi counterpart, King Abdullah, in Mecca, where the meeting came with a tinge of drama.  Qatar, which provided $8 billion to the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt, had been the primary patron of Mohammed Morsi’s government until it was toppled early last month.  Saudi Arabia, together with Kuwait and the UAE, have swooped in as Egypt’s new patrons, pledging a total of $12 billion to Cairo’s interim government. 

Saudi-Qatari tensions are nothing new. The Qatari news channel al-Jazeera has at times been described as an anti-Saudi mouthpiece.  Discord over Egypt has created additional tensions between the two absolute monarchies.  Saudi Arabia has long seen the Muslim Brotherhood, which blends politics and religion, as a domestic threat.  Qatar, a proponent of the Brotherhood, viewed Egypt as a means to extend its regional influence.

Even in Syria, where the two countries agree on their preferred outcome – the toppling of the Assad regime –  Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also had their differences. Qatar’s support for the Syrian opposition has included heavier weapons and financing for more radical groups. The Saudis, according to news reports, have been more cautious.  Inside the Syrian National Coalition, a coalition of anti-Assad rebel groups, Riyadh has recently been edging out Qatar.

The emir’s visit to the House of Saud is, by all accounts, an olive branch. It is worth noting that this would not be Sheikh Tamim’s first attempt at rapprochement. He previously co-chaired a Saudi-Qatari commission that was founded in 2007 to reduce bilateral tensions.

Qatar seems to be recognizing the limits of its foreign policy in the region, concluding that it is counterproductive to keep sticking a finger in Saudi Arabia’s eye.  Given that the small Gulf emirate still gets most of its overseas influence from its financial largesse, Sheikh Tamim is unlikely to terminate his country’s practice of checkbook diplomacy any time soon.  However, he may opt to take a more collaborative approach to this strategy, possibly even with Riyadh. Qatar’s announcement today that it sent liquefied natural gas to Egypt could be one early indicator.

David Andrew Weinberg is a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.