February 2014

Calls For Stripping Qatar Of World Cup Suggests Gulf Crisis At A Stalemate

uk canada goose My story, Calls for Stripping Qatar of World Cup suggests Gulf crisis at a stalemate, was based on a Reuters story, that ran Sunday morning at 03:59 London time. I decided to go with my canada goose analysis after the Reuters story had been pickedup by major news organizations and websites across the globe. Reuters withdrew the story canadian goose jacket 16 hours later saying “the website on which the story was based said it did not publish the information attributed to it.” While the assertion based on the Reuters story that the Saudi UAE led alliance had written a letter to world soccer body FIFA appears to be false, my analysis of where the Gulf crisisand how FIFA is handling Canada Goose Jackets it stands. Nonetheless, I apologize for the mistake and any inconvenience. uk canada goose

canada goose uk shop With little chance of FIFA acting on the demand any time soon, the move suggests that the alliance, struggling to figure a way forward amid mounting international buy canada goose jacket cheap pressure for a face saving way out of the six week Canada Goose online old Gulf crisis, needs to be seen to be acting on its hitherto unfulfilled promise to tighten the screws on Qatar. canada goose uk shop

canada goose Amid mounting international pressure for a negotiated solution to the crisis and calls for canada goose outlet the lifting of the alliance’s diplomatic and economic Canada Goose Parka boycott of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and its allies have so far shied away from promises to tighten the noose around Qatar’s neck if it failed to cave in to their demands centred on accusations of Qatari funding of terrorism. canada goose

Canada Goose Online Six weeks into the boycott, Qatar has been able to absorb the boycott, which involves a cut off of almost all land, sea and air links with the Gulf state. It also has succeeded in standing its ground in a struggle for the moral high ground with its detractors, whose demands have failed to garner a groundswell of international support. Canada Goose Online

While few in the international community give Qatar a clean bill of health on funding of militancy and political violence, many suggest that its detractors are tainted by the same brush. The alliance has moreover struggled to come up with a set of demands that many in the international community have said need to be reasonable and actionable.

cheap Canada Goose The Saudi UAE led alliance initially put forward a set of 13 non negotiable demands that included cutting ties to a host of Islamist and militant groups and individuals, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar, lowering its relations with Iran, shuttering Qatar sponsored media such as the controversial Al Jazeera television network, and putting Qatar under guardianship. cheap Canada Goose

Canada Goose Parka Qatar’s rejection of the demands and the alliance’s realization that its quest was being perceived by many in the international community as an attempt to undermine Qatari sovereignty and curb freedom of the media, prompted the alliance to adopt six principles that repackaged the demands and removed some of the sharp edges. Canada Goose Parka

uk canada goose outlet Much like the original demands, those principles also failed to garner the kind of international support the alliance needs to push forward with a tightening of the screws on Qatar. uk canada goose outlet

Canada Goose Coats On Sale The alliance also appears to have backed down on at least one of its demands, the shuttering of Al Jazeera. In an interview with The Times, UAE minister for the federal national council Noura al Kaabi said the Emirates sought “fundamental change and restructuring” rather than closure of Al Jazeera. The Saudi UAE led canada goose clearance alliance accuses the network of being a platform for militant groups. Canada Goose Coats On Sale

“We need canada goose black friday sale a diplomatic solution. We are not looking for an escalation,” Ms. Al Kaabi said, suggesting that the Saudi UAE led alliance was looking for a face saving end to a crisis in canada goose coats on sale which parties have dug in their heels, reducing margins for a way out that would allow all to declare victory.

canada goose uk black friday At the heart of the Gulf crisis, lies a fundamental divide in how Qatar and its main detractors, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, envision the future canada goose clearance sale of the Middle East and North Africa. Central to the dispute is the international community’s inability to define what constitutes terrorism and who is a terrorist. canada goose uk black friday

It is a difference that is likely to weaken the demand to deprive Qatar of its World Cup hosting rights. It is also a difference that has given the Gulf crisis a pot blaming the kettle character.

While Qatar sees the canada goose deals survival of its autocratic regime in the support of political change everywhere but at home in a nave belief that it can exempt itself, Saudi Arabia and the UAE opted for maintenance of the status quo ante by rolling back the achievements of the 2011 popular Arab revolts that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. A sub buy canada goose jacket text to the struggle is the existential battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The epic struggle has led to a military coup in Egypt that removed from office the country’s first and only democratically elected president, sparked devastating cheap Canada Goose civil wars in Libya and Syria, aggravated conflict in Iraq, and prompted an ill fated Saudi led military intervention in Yemen that brought the country to the edge of the abyss.

Canada Goose sale With efforts to mediate a way out of the crisis in full swing, FIFA has little incentive to act on a letter by six of its members Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Mauritania demanding that Qatar be deprived of its hosting rights because it is a “base of terrorism.” Canada Goose sale

Speaking to a European news website, The Local, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that “the countries warned FIFA of the risks threatening fan and player security in a country that is ‘the base and the castle of terrorism’.”

canadian goose jacket Mr. Infantino said the six countries had threatened to boycott the tournament should their request not be acted upon. canadian goose jacket

buy canada goose jacket While the six countries are unlikely to be under the illusion that FIFA will simply accept their demand, tabling it allows the Saudi UAE led alliance to assert that it is not backing down in the Gulf crisis and is increasing pressure on Qatar. The alliance also hopes to exploit widespread criticism within the global soccer community of FIFA’s 2010 decision to award Qatar hosting rights. buy canada goose jacket

canada goose coats on sale Nevertheless, FIFA is unlikely to want to take sides in the crisis or weigh in on canada goose store the debate on definitions of terrorism. Struggling to shake off multiple scandals that have severely tarnished the world soccer body’s image, FIFA is also unlikely to take a decision in a dispute in which all parties are tainted. canada goose coats on sale

Moreover, FIFA is under no real canada goose coats pressure to act. The Qatar World Cup is more than five years away. The Gulf crisis is certain to be resolved long before that, one way or the other. In the meantime, the boycott does not stop Qatar from moving ahead with construction of World Cup related infrastructure, albeit at a higher cost of construction materials.

Canada Goose Outlet Ultimately, FIFA will want to take a decision on the www.canadagooseparka.biz/a> merits of Qatar’s ability to deliver a safe, secure and well managed World Cup rather than based on political arguments, many of which have yet to be substantiated. Canada Goose Outlet