On January 5, 2020, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attended the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Saudi Arabia where a rapprochement deal was signed, which officially ended the three-and-a-half-year crisis that had threatened the core of the Gulf region. Upon landing in the country, he was embraced by Muhammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince. This gesture would have been inconceivable a year ago, and given that it was amidst COVID-19 social distancing decrees, only enhanced its significance.
A day prior to this, Kuwait’s state news – the country which had been the main mediator – announced that both the border and the airspace between Saudi Arabia and Qatar would reopen on the eve of the GCC Summit.[1]
