Global Geopolitical Series: No full NATO membership for Qatar

As the geopolitical tensions rise in the region, Qatar, which is the United States’ one of the closest ally in the Middle East and home to largest U.S. military airbase in the region asked for full membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  Speaking on the anniversary of a year-long bitter Gulf diplomatic dispute, which has seen Qatar separated from its former regional allies resulting from an economic and diplomatic blockade by several Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the Qatari defense minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah said that Qatar remains strong even after a year of blockade and expressed the country’s longer-term desire to become a full member of NATO.

However, Qatar’s ambition was cut short by NATO officials, who cleared that the NATO membership is only reserved for the United States and Europe. The official cleared that according to the Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, the membership of NATO is reserved for the European countries only, cleared while saying that Qatar is a valuable partner to the organization.