The Gulf Crisis, as Told Through Cartoons
In May, on his first official trip overseas, President Donald J. Trump engaged in good-natured chinwag with Arab presidents and emirs, and even bobbed his head along to a traditional Saudi sword dance in Riyadh. Perhaps the most memorable image of his Mideast sojourn was a comical photo-op with the Saudi king, the Egyptian president, and a certain glowing orb as they announced the launch of joint counter-terrorism initiative.
Two weeks later, Washington found itself caught up in a Persian Gulf squabble when a coalition of seven countries, led by Saudi Arabia, severed diplomatic ties with neighboring Qatar. The move was allegedly prompted by the small, hyper-wealthy peninsular kingdom’s support for terrorists both at home and abroad, and its supposed alignment with Iran. As many have pointed out, Qatar’s foreign policy is nothing new; what is novel is that Trump’s vocal support of Saudi Arabia could have given license to Riyadh and the rest to punish Doha.
But these destabilizing events have proven a goldmine for political cartoonists in the Gulf, where most media outlets areaffiliated with or owned by imbroglio.
