Boris Johnson Is Now Trying to Fix the Saudi-Qatar Dispute
- Boris Johnson once accused Gulf kingdom of ‘puppeteering’
- Foreign secretary acting as diplomatic go-between with Qatar
Boris Johnson.
Photographer: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPAThis article is for subscribers only.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who once accused Saudi leaders of “puppeteering and playing proxy wars” in the Middle East, is now taking on the role of peacemaker in the spat between the kingdom and Qatar.
A cheerleader for Brexit, Johnson and his colleagues now seek friends in the Gulf to help make it a success, and his tone has grown conciliatory. At stake isn’t just harmony between oil-producing nations whose key export contributes to fueling western economies. There are billions of pounds of defense contracts that can bolster the economy as the U.K. quits the European Union.