The current standoff with the Gulf Cooperation Council has boosted popular support for the leader of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, shown depicted on a flag displayed by a paraglider in honor of the country's National Day.
(KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Qatar has distinguished itself from its peers. Among the world's oil-producing states, it is one of the richest. Among developed countries today, it blossomed more quickly than almost any other. And among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), it is one of the few states that dares to push back against Saudi Arabia's ideas on culture, on economics and especially on foreign policy. But in the country's dazzling growth and development lie the seeds of its current dispute with three fellow members of the Gulf bloc. Thanks to its extensive natural gas reserves and the ruling family's resistance to Saudi control, Qatar will continue to challenge Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates in their attempts to dominate it....
