What could de Gaulle teach Qatar? Comparative analysis of a struggle for greater intra-alliance autonomy

Abstract

1 Univerzita Karlova Fakulta sociálních věd Institut politologických studií Diploma thesis project What could De Gaulle teach Qatar? A comparative analysis of the struggle for greater autonomy in Intra-Alliances Name: Khalid Almesfair Academic advisor: JUDr. PhDr. Tomáš Karásek, Ph.D. Study program: International Security Studies Year of project submission: 2020 2 The Problem Long before the Qatar crisis in 2017, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has experienced tense competition within member states for greater intra-alliance autonomy. In this regard, "Qatar appears almost to enjoy annoying the United States and provoking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while pursuing a conciliatory policy towards Iran to maximize autonomy" (Hinderson, 2014). Doha's behavior to act beyond the GCC security strategy has largely contradicted the principles and conditions under which the GCC was founded upon, most notably the Iranian threat following Ayatollah Khamenei's revolution in 1979 (Legrenzi, 2011). By doing that, Qatar partially denied its alliance commitments, undermining regional security and strategic interests of its Gulf counterparts but also the GCC's unity while maintaining membership hitherto. In fact, the soft power that Qatar has utilized cannot be neglected. For...