Getty THE GLOBAL POLITICO The One Phone Call Qatar Desperately Wants Donald Trump to Make For months, America has been caught in the middle of an ugly family feud in the Persian Gulf. A Global POLITICO debrief on the crisis with one of Qatar’s leaders.

Susan Glasser is POLITICO’s chief international affairs columnist and host of its weekly podcast, The Global POLITICO. Subscribe to The Global POLITICO on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe via Stitcher here.



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Top officials from the tiny, embattled Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar came to Washington this week with a simple message to President Donald Trump: You can solve the regional crisis that has seen it blockaded by all their neighbors with a single phone call.


“The sooner, the better, the phone call,” says Qatar’s deputy prime minister and defense minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah in an exclusive interview for The Global POLITICO, his first extensive comments to a U.S. journalist since the crisis began. But Trump hasn’t made the call yet even as America has been dragged right into the middle of what Al Attiyah calls this “family feud” in the Persian Gulf.

For months, Washington has watched with a combination of dismay and concern as the princely leaders of the Gulf have erupted against each other, with several major U.S. allies in the region—Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain—teaming up to impose a blockade on their neighbor Qatar. Qatar is also a key U.S. ally—and in fact hosts the largest American military base in the region, Al Udeid. Since the crisis, Qatar has been literally cut off from its main landline to the rest of the world through Saudi Arabia, and has turned increasingly to U.S. adversaries like Iran and Russia.

In other words, it’s a geopolitical nightmare for America in the midst of the already volatile Middle East.

On top of all that, the crisis exposed fissures and fault lines between Trump and his national security team, with Trump early on tweeting his way right into the middle of the crisis—on the side of Qatar’s enemies—even as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis sought to calm tensions.

Months later, diplomacy has failed, Trump is no longer tweeting about it, and many of Qatar’s top officials were in Washington this week to lobby the administration on their behalf after a friendly phone call between Trump and their leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, earlier this month. Tillerson and Mattis “gave them a great welcome, and the Qataris must think it’s Christmas here in Washington for them,” says Simon Henderson, a veteran Gulf watcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Back when the crisis erupted, it seemed that Trump had anointed the Saudi-Emirati perspective. Now they’ve recalibrated a bit.”

But the crisis is far from over, as the conversation with Al Attiyah, a key player from the start of the blockade, makes clear. While pleading with Trump to intervene, Al Attiyah acknowledges that American support from the president could be “louder,” warns that the entire Gulf Cooperation Council—the key regional security group—could fall apart unless a resolution is found, and confirms that Qatar is relying on help from Iran and considering purchasing a major Russian anti-missile system, the S-400.

Still, Al Attiyah clearly sees Qatar’s future harnessed to its alliance with the United States—and has a key chip in the Al Udeid air base, currently housing some 11,000 U.S. troops, whose presence in Qatar he now proposes to make “permanent,” despite the American political allergy to anything that smacks of perpetual engagement in the troubled region.

I found his perspective on how Trump’s administration really works to be particularly illuminating when I asked whether the Saudis and Emiratis had initially thought they prevailed in Washington because of Trump’s tweets and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s close ties to the young Saudi crown prince.

“One of the elements which made their plan to fail,” Al Attiyah says in the interview (he refused even to name the countries lined up against Qatar throughout our conversation), “is that they did not account for the United States as an institutional country, and the White House, the Department of State, and the DOD—they always consult with each other, and they run the country as an institutional country, so it’s not something where they think an individual can take a decision.”

In other words, I said, they thought they had the White House wired, and were surprised to find that wasn’t the end of the story as far as U.S. policy?

“This is what shocked them,” Al Attiyah replied, “because they found out that America does not work the way they think it does.”

You can read the rest of our conversation, which took place Tuesday evening in Washington, below.



***

Susan B. Glasser: Thank you. Once again, this Susan Glasser, and The Global POLITICO, and welcome back to all our listeners. We have a very special guest today, I want to say, and a special edition of The Global POLITICO. This week it was what the heck is going on in the Russiagate investigation. This episode is better titled, What the Heck Is Going On in the Gulf? episode.

We have joining us the minister of defense for Qatar, who is here in Washington, Minister Al Attiyah. He has been meeting today with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, people who know Qatar well, know the situation well. Tell our listeners, sir, what is going on?

Al Attiyah: Thank you, Susan. You know, before we discuss the detail of each incident, we should just go quickly back and understand what happened back in late May. We met in Riyadh, and we met with President Trump. The meeting went well.

Glasser: And you were there?

Al Attiyah: And I was there, myself, yes. Nothing was on the horizon to indicate there was trouble or somebody was not happy with us.

Glasser: So I was told that there was one meeting at which there was some dissatisfaction on the part of President Trump and others with Qatar’s position. Is that not accurate?

Al Attiyah: No, no. Not at all. We didn’t feel anything. As I told you, we felt that we’d been deceived, and when we came back from Riyadh after having a good time together—we had lunch together and everything was fine—next day, they attacked and hacked our news agency, and they started throwing some false statements, as if it’s from His Highness, the Emir of Qatar.

And according to this statement, they took the position, regardless of us denying what has been there, and we informed them at that time that this was false news. We got the assistance of our colleagues from the United States, the FBI, they did the investigation. They found out that the agency was hacked, but they did nothing because it was a pre-arranged campaign. And simply, we’d been ambushed by them, by the neighboring country, and they started a very severe blockade against Qatar. They closed the only land border between us and Saudi; they closed all the airways. You know, they tried to suffocate the Qataris.

Glasser: And it continues to this day?

Al Attiyah: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Glasser: Do you think that the Americans were given any indication in their meetings in Riyadh of this?

Al Attiyah: No, not of what I knew when I was there. As I told you, things were going smoothly; we discussed everything. In fact, President Trump said he was impressed His Highness, the Emir, of his effort in countering terrorism at that time, loudly, in front of everybody. And simply, when we came back they decided that they would like to start attacking Qatar.

Glasser: Do you believe they were close to taking military action against you?

Al Attiyah: I believe yes. I believe they were so close to have a military intervention at that time.

Glasser: What stopped them?

Al Attiyah: So many reasons stopped them, to be honest with you. One, the plan. I don’t think the plan went the way they wanted because they saw the reaction of the Qatari people, and from this place I salute our people for their loyalty to their country and to their government, and secondly, they are resilient, the Qatari people are resilient—showed the world that they’d rather die if they don’t live free.

Glasser: Tell us about the role of Washington in this? There’s a sense that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he is obviously very familiar with Qatar from his time as ExxonMobil CEO. Obviously, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is very familiar with Qatar because of the Al Udeid Base and his long personal ties to the country. But a sense that perhaps in the White House, President Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, were very wired into the Saudis. The president even tweeted early on what appeared to be support for their position. That makes it very difficult for you to navigate.

Al Attiyah: No, it’s not exactly accurate, because one of the elements which made their plan to fail is that they did not account for the United States as an institutional country, and the White House, the Department of State, and the DOD—they always consult with each other, and they run the country as an institutional country, so it’s not something where they think an individual can take a decision.

Glasser: Right. So, they thought that they could just get sort of an individual in the White House to be supportive, and that it would change American policy?

Al Attiyah: And this is what shocked them, because they found out that America does not work the way they think it does.

Glasser: So, now, I saw you give a very interesting talk the other day here, and you said you think President Trump could solve this whole mess in just one phone call. Who is the phone call to, and what does he say in it?

Al Attiyah: Definitely not for us, he wouldn’t call.

Glasser: He doesn’t need to call you?

Al Attiyah: But, I think it’s been pretty long now, and it is affecting the social fabric of the region, and the region is very tied to each other in the social level. And what they did is, really, they damaged this fabric, and it’s been too long now, for nothing. So, this is why I referred that—

Glasser: What do you think President Trump should say?

Al Attiyah: I think we need to have the voice be a louder voice, to make things work with the neighbors.

Glasser: After your meetings here, do you feel that that’s a possibility?

Al Attiyah: Yes, I think our colleagues in the United States have understood that what’s going on there is disturbing our joint efforts and operations to counter terrorism. Today we are facing a strange enemy, an unconventional enemy, and that needs everybody to be together, and everybody should talk together, and be hand-in-hand to combat this enemy.

We’ve been here to hold our first strategic dialogue. This is the first meeting at this level to be held between Qatar and the United States, and this is just to reaffirm the strategic relation between us and the United States. So, we’ve been talking about all fields of interest between the two countries: the economy, the investment, the defense—which is military-to-military relations—and the CT, counterterrorism, and you know, counterterrorism finance, as well. So, we touched on all the subjects which is concerning the relation between the two countries.

Glasser: And you, of course, have the Al Udeid Air Base situated in Qatar, which is the most important U.S. military facility in the Middle East. You are interested in working with the Americans, as I understand it, to even consider making that base permanent. Is that right?

Al Attiyah: Absolutely right. As you know, Susan, we have 11,000 of your brave men and women who are working in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air Base, and we want to make their stay comfortable, so we have discussed together how to transfer this air base from being temporary to become a permanent air base by building more houses, schools, and all the necessary needs to make it comfortable to our American colleagues who live there.

Glasser: But it’s a little bit politically sensitive here in the United States, the idea of a permanent presence in the Middle East, even though we’ve been there, of course, for many, many years.

Al Attiyah: Well, if we don’t want to use the word “permanent,” then we want to use the word “comfortable.” Comfortable to stay, because they are doing a great job there. We are working side-by-side countering terrorism together, and fighting together. Unfortunately, the dispute in the Gulf is not helping; it’s disturbing this operation one way or another. But, at least we have to do something to make our colleagues comfortable while they are staying there.

Glasser: What are some of the direct consequences on the base, on the U.S. troops stationed there, of this current dispute that you have with some of your neighbors?

Al Attiyah: You know, CT operation always will require an exchange of information, and this is a very important element, and with the situation with our neighbors that we have a lack of communication or no communication at all, this is really not helping the operation and is disturbing, in all

Glasser: Just on this end game, though, are you any closer to bringing it to an end than you were a month ago? Are there any talks that we’re not, you know—

Al Attiyah: Well, let’s see it from a different perspective. We started this—they started this against Qatar, and at that time we were heavily dependent on them, on our food and our medicine. Today, after eight months, I can tell you that we are fully independent from the country who decided to have war with us, so now—

Glasser: I love that picture of the cows coming off the airplane to bring the milk.

Al Attiyah: Yes. You see, we have now good, fresh milk coming from Europe. So you can imagine how this will reflect on our—

Glasser: You don’t want to get Saudi milk back?

Al Attiyah: On the outcome.

Glasser: No, but, more seriously, though, is there any indication or anything that perhaps we’re not seeing here, that suggests a path forward?

Al Attiyah: We’ve been calling for a dialogue since day one, and we keep insisting that the only way out of this is through dialogue. We said before, we say now, and we will keep saying this tomorrow, that we are open, and if you come forward to the dialogue, you can put on the table whatever things you think is concerning you. The only thing which we don’t accept in Qatar that precondition and to come to a table where there is—things are imposed on you. Other than that, we are open. We encourage His Highness Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, in his mediation, and the help of our colleagues in the United States, to call everyone to come to the table and have this dialogue.

Glasser: Do you think there’s any indication that President Trump would do that?

Al Attiyah: I think he’s working, he’s working. President Trump is working to bring everybody together. This is, I know, for a fact.

Glasser: And, through this Kuwaiti process, or something directly by the United States?

Al Attiyah: No. Sure, Kuwait will be involved, but in the end of the day you need someone to be witnessing any outcome of the dialogue. So, who better than the United States to be witnessing this outcome?

Glasser: Do you worry that one of the impacts of this could be to fracture the Gulf Cooperation Council, which has been a main security partner of the United States?

Al Attiyah: Well, whoever decided to do what he did is either shortsighted, or the outcome was very clear that he will shatter the GCC.

Glasser: So, you think unless things go in a different direction, that’s where you’re headed?

Al Attiyah: Well, we try to keep the GCC intact, but if they keep pushing this way, I’m sure that God knows what the destiny of the GCC will be.

Glasser: What is your view of the motivation? Why has the Saudi crown prince decided to do this, in your view?

Al Attiyah: Well, it is not only the Saudi crown prince; it is all of them. Three countries have come at night and decided to deceive Qatar, and they planned, and they come in the morning, and they ambushed us. So there are three; I cannot say it’s Saudi Arabia. There are three of them.

Glasser: One thing that’s gotten, I think, a lot of people here in Washington concerned, from a distance, at looking at this is that it, A, increases the risk of conflict, or at least instability, in an already unstable part of the world. But then, in particular, what are some of the consequences for Qatar in terms of geopolitics? Are you turning away from the U.S. and its partners, working with Iran more closely, with Russia more closely? It was just reported the other day by TASS, the Russian news agency, that Qatar’s interested in purchasing the Russian S-400 missile defense system. First of all, is that something that you’re going to go ahead with? And secondly, do you see this as changing Qatar’s friends in the world?

Al Attiyah: In fact, before the 5th of June, this spot of the world was the most stable place in the world, and not vice versa. The Gulf—

Glasser: You mean the Gulf?

Al Attiyah: The GCC. The GCC countries were the most stable and prosperous spot on the MENA region—before the fifth of June. Secondly, our relation with the United States is a historical relation, so may be deep-rootedly solid. We have a lot of our military and military equipment and system is from the United States. So, changing an ally and friend, this is not the way how Qatar works. Qatar always sticks to its friend and ally, and there are so many examples of that I can give you.

In 2002, when the United States troops asked to leave one of our neighboring countries—okay, that was a very bad timing at that time. We expedited hosting them, and we never hesitated for a moment to open our hearts and doors for the American troops to come and stay in Qatar.

So, it is not that easy, that with all this history and relation with the United States, that we will just shift mind. Now, I’ll go back to your question on the Iran situation. When they decided to attack Qatar and close the air and oxygen and the only border we have, it was in Ramadan, and I’m sure you know what Ramadan means for the Muslim world. And people were fasting and not prepared. They decided to cut all the food supply in one night. So, the only way for us was, the only gateway, was through Iran. So, Iran have opened their airways and opened their ports for us so we can get our food and medicine in a very short time.

And this is because you cannot change geography. We are neighbors. And the way they have treated Qatar, they give Qatar all the excuses in the world to—

Glasser: To push you into Iran’s arms?

Al Attiyah: They wanted to do so. They wanted to do so. But at the end of the day, we have good relations with everyone on the limits, which makes the normal neighbor conduct.

Glasser: This S-400 purchase—what is the reason for that?

Al Attiyah: No, again, as I told you, most of our armaments and most of our systems are American. Qatar is a sovereign country, and it’s okay if we see what other countries have, what systems, and look into their systems. That does not mean we are shifting or turning our direction from the United States as our strategical partner, and which will remain our strategical partner and ally.

We have a lot with the United States. We have our C-17 fleet. We have the C-130. We have the Apache from the United States. We have the early warning radar. We have so many systems from the United States. So, it’s not easy to change.

Glasser: Don’t you think the Russians see an opportunity here, though, to separate you from an ally that you have worked closely with?

Al Attiyah: I don’t think Russia would need to seek an opportunity. We have normal relations with so many countries, and one of the good relations is with Russia; we are a member of the international community, and we keep our good bilateral relations with everyone, and this is what’s made Qatar unique. Qatar always seeks to have friends rather than to have enemies.

Glasser: What a lot of people looking at the map here, and seeing how intent this U.S. administration is, President Trump is, in increasing the confrontation with Iran. The dilemma for a country like Qatar is that you’re forced to choose sides, even if you don’t want to, or even if geography makes that difficult. Do you see a situation where you’re working more closely now with Iran, Turkey and Russia than you were a year ago?

Al Attiyah: It’s not about working with Iran; we have—as I told you, we are trying to have a normal relation with all of our neighbors. But, going back to the situation in Iran, we’ve always been encouraging. Even before the crisis we’ve been encouraging that’s the only way to solve our issue in the region; we are neighbors, so it’s the dialogue. The shortest solid way is to have dialogue. And we always encourage our friends and allies everywhere that this is the way we should do it, whether with Iran or with the others.

I think the way of using power is an old, old method. Today, the region is very interconnected, and if—God forbid—a military force is used in our region, it will be a mess.

Glasser: Well, and so, what is the message—just to bring it back to your presence here in Washington—what is the message that you have gotten from Secretary Mattis and others about that? They must be quite alarmed at the prospect of additional conflict in a region.

Al Attiyah: Well, we’ve been talking to Secretary Mattis and Secretary Tillerson, and they both are wise men. And they know the area very well. They know the situation, and they are very cautious, because they wanted to keep this region intact for the good of everyone. It’s not to the benefit of any of the members that this region cracks down. And they are putting a lot of effort to bring everybody together.

Glasser: So, a lot of Americans, they look at the region and they say, you know, basically, we can’t figure it out. A pox on both your houses. Look at Iraq—that didn’t work out so well for us. Then here’s this blockade in the Gulf: Americans feel positively towards Qatar, they know there’s a big air base there. They feel positively towards Saudis, with whom they’ve had long ties.

Do you worry about your support among Americans in general—that people just say forget it, this is exactly why we don’t want to be involved in the Middle East. We don’t want a permanent base there; we don’t want anything to do with it.

Al Attiyah: It is not only the base who link us with the Americans. Qatar, today our relation with America is 360 degrees. We have six of your prestigious universities in Qatar. We have, for example, Carnegie Mellon, Texas A&M, Cornell, Northwestern—all these prestigious universities are in Qatar, as a main campus.

Glasser: Yes. Actually, I wrote the very first front-page story in The Washington Post about that back in early 2003.

Al Attiyah: Economy. We have a very strong economic tie with the United States. Investments. We are one of the largest investors from the region in the United States. So, when you come and look at the relation with the United States, you will see that we have a very—in every direction, we have a good relation. Energy—25 percent of the energy in Qatar is a share of one of the most prestigious energy companies in the United States, ExxonMobil. So—

Glasser: About which our Secretary of State knows a lot.

Al Attiyah: Absolutely. Absolutely. And this is why the relation is rooted and it’s strategic.

Glasser: Minister Al Attiyah of Qatar, you’ve been very generous with your time with us. You are presenting a fairly optimistic portrait of a situation that you’re also saying is unsustainable. What keeps you up at night? What are you most worried could come out of this crisis?

Al Attiyah: Well, the most things which worries me is the dismantling of family—you know, the family. If you know the region very well, you would know that this region is very much built on family interaction, and the social side of that crisis is what’s painful, let’s say.

For example, a woman flying with her 6-month-old child in Abu Dhabi Airport—they took the child and they let the woman go. She is Qatari; the child is Emirati. This is unacceptable. In any norms, this is not acceptable. So, these things make us uncomfortable a lot.

Glasser: It’s a family feud.

Al Attiyah: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Glasser: In one of the most important regions in the world.

So, if you could sit down with President Trump right here at the table, what would you tell him?

Al Attiyah: The sooner the better, the phone call.

Glasser: So, who’s that one phone call to, though? Is it to the crown prince?

Al Attiyah: It shouldn’t be one phone call; maybe two or three phone calls.

Glasser: Oh, you said it could be solved in one phone call.

Al Attiyah: Yes, one phone call, three times.

Glasser: Got it. OK. To all the participants, is that you meant.

Al Attiyah: Yes.

Glasser: Absolutely. Well, sir, we are very grateful for you taking the time on your visit to Washington to join us on The Global POLITICO.

Al Attiyah: Susan, thank you very much.