Egypt, GCC countries played their hand too soon with Qatar

Egypt and the GCC countries played their hand too soon in their rift with Qatar, and now have little (if any) room to escalate their punitive measures, Al Masry Al Youm’s Mohamed Kamal says. Resorting to a military escalation — the nuclear option — would not sit will with other regional powers or the rest of the world, making it a highly unlikely option. As such, the quartet’s only move is to ramp up economic and political sanctions, in which case they should be prepared to play the waiting game until Qatar feels the pinch enough to come around.