Engaging the UN Security Council in Low-Intensity Geo-Political Conflicts: Case Study of the Blockade Against Qatar

Abstract

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has become the dominant forum for resolving peace and security disputes or disturbances since the early 1990s, and the Gulf region was not only the starting point but also one of the key areas of concern to the post-Cold War UNSC. By all accounts, Qatar’s strategy towards the embargo has been twofold: on the one hand, it has engaged in a global public relations campaign, while on the other it has made meticulous and concerted use of all available UN mechanisms, both judicial and political. In this manner, Qatar has shown an entrenched commitment to the rule of law and sound governance. This paper suggests that this strategy could go a step further by directly engaging the UNSC. Given that the UNSC views the embargo as a low-intensity political skirmish with no discernible victims in the near future, it is unlikely to alienate Egypt and Saudi Arabia by putting the issue on its agenda. The paper argues that given this state of affairs, Qatar might well pursue other indirect ways of engaging the UNSC. This may be achieved by linking the embargo to existing thematic issues on the Council’s agenda, such as the wars in Syria and Yemen, where Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have some degree of involvement; the situation with Iran, which is a thorny issue for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); the UNSC’s ongoing involvement with international terrorism, and potentially several others.