Qatar-Gulf relations in ruins

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Saudi Arabia has been leading the way in cutting ties with Qatar over their links to sponsoring Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Countries that are with Saudi Arabia against Qatar include Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Yemen and Egypt.

This news is astonishing. It suggests that Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia has worked in changing the minds of leaders in several Arab countries against terrorism in a strong way. Whatever can be said about other nations' sponsoring of terrorism, Qatar is perhaps the worst sponsor of terrorism in the world, and nations seeking to isolate Qatar for terror-related activities is definitely a step in the right direction.

The rest of the Gulf is as of now blockading Qatar. Should sanctions go on Qatar, the nation itself will be in trouble, as most of Qatar's money comes from their oil and gas reserves. It leaves Qatar more open to instability and terrorism and, should war break out in Qatar, ISIS would find a very receptive crowd there.

It also means that Qatar will try and destabilize its neighbours in hopes of removing the blockade. This makes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates more vulnerable to ISIS detonation, so while it is commendable that these Gulf countries moved towards decreasing terrorism in the region, it is likely to have a negative impact on the Gulf in the short-term.

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are particularly vulnerable due to flaring tensions between the Shi'ites and Sunnis in the two nations. Should Qatar direct its resources to instability in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain through a Shi'ite-Sunni conflict, surely ISIS would benefit and absorb the smaller kingdoms - and much of Saudi Arabia - into a new Caliphate. This would, inevitably, absorb Qatar as well.

Perhaps ISIS' next capital after Raqqa is Doha. Or perhaps it will be Dubai, or Bahrain. It is a scary time for the Gulf, with the only certainty being that ISIS will come to the Arabian Gulf and destabilize it completely.