Will Qatar's Threat to Europe Spark a Global Energy Crisis?

All right, hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends, where truth matters. Happy New Year to you, to all of you. Thank you, by the way, thank you guys for your kind wishes for Happy New Year. I read all your postings there, so, but I didn't respond to every— everybody because I wanted to wait till I do live and, and, and say thank you to all of you for your kind wishes. So very, very grateful to you all. So anyway, very excited to be with you now at the beginning of 2025, which we look forward to being a productive year, a prosperous, a healthy one, and also with increased knowledge, if I may use the term. Speaking of 2025, I am working on some topic that I am going to do analysis for you, uh, my own assessments, how I see uh, thanks, progressing in 2025 from a geopolitical perspective. So I will do a recorded video for you guys and I'll share it with you. So let me first see who is here and say hi to our wonderful community. Uh, Test You, Tendis, good to see you. Don't worry, Qatar, they think you are bluffing. So good to see you. Hanging G, good to see you as always. Mr. Amhara, good to see you. Truth Seeker, good morning to you as well. Liang, good to see you. Multi Tom Tom, good to see you. Uh, Abdoufal One, good to see you. Cam35, good to see you. Alistair O'Keen, Steve Taiwan Still, Timeline Dunkley. Uh, good to see you all here, guys. Very, very excited to have you back here on the channel. So All right, let me start with some housekeeping stuff, then we'll jump into our, uh, topic. What I'm gonna be, uh, be on the lookout— I am still waiting for confirmation from Dr. Tikia. Her name is Maria Tikia, uh, she is from the Philippines. Very interesting lady. She is, uh, her specialty is lobbying and government relations. She was also knowledgeable when it comes down to political management. And strategic communication. So I look forward to hearing back from her to confirm the dates, and we will have an interview with her. Very, very interesting insights that I need you to know about. As I mentioned earlier, I am working on some topics for you for recorded videos, so I will be doing a lot of reading before I'll form my own analysis, and I will share that with you. One thing I wanna also, while I'm having you here, guys, because I was reading this morning, uh, and I found out, uh, this has to do with Apple. Uh, what happened with Apple? Well, Apple now is being fined about $95 million to settle Siri eavesdropping lawsuits. Basically, do Siri— hey Siri, can you tell me what the weather is? What It was nothing but eavesdropping on the communication inside the households. Back in the day, I used to tell my kids, turn that thing off, you guys have no idea who's listening to you. Which I had an idea back then, it was the three-letter agency was listening to all that. So now Apple has agreed to pay the $95 million to settle the lawsuit, uh, uh, because accusing its digital assistant Siri for eavesdropping on users. So to me, it was like Apple should do the right thing from the get-go, not get in the back— in the bed with the government. Same with Microsoft. Yeah, I won't deny it, I do have an Apple phone, but at the same time, there is a— there is a difference between right or wrong. Apple should know better, Microsoft should know better, and all of them are the back door of the government, the— our government to listening in to everybody. Why? What happened to that privacy? What happened to those— you know, we say one thing and do the opposite. Hypocrisy at the highest order. So anyway, I just wanted to share this with you, uh, before I'll delve into the topic. So, well, our topic today has to do with Qatar issuing, uh, warnings or threats, whatever term you want to use, to Europe that it will halt its delivery of gas. So here are the questions. I prepared some questions for you guys. Oh, let me remove this picture here for Apple. Okay, let's move this one here. Let me, uh, share the questions with you because we need to think about it. What's behind Qatar's decision? Another word, why? Second question: Is Europe screwed? Because, uh, and, and again, this is one of the topics I'm working on regarding another issue that deals with energy in Europe. So, and I am, uh, uh, uh, reading my, the white papers from different resources, and I will compile my own analysis and share it with you. Because to me, that's why I use the term screwed, because it looks to me that Europe is screwed given that the upcoming winter and the cutoff of gas from other directions, even the US, by the way. Which many do not know. Even the US, there's a conversation right here in the US that we might have to halt some of the delivery of gas to Europe. This is intentional, in my opinion. You want to bring Europe down to its knees. We already did that anyway. Third question is— oh, let me silence this one. Can you guys still hear me? Give me a thumbs up, because sometimes when my computer, uh, uh, something pops up Let me see. I need to— before I move forward, I need to see if you can give me thumbs up, guys, if you hear me loud and clear. Uh, Roger, thank you very much. Thank you, Hang and G. Good, good to hear, because sometimes it makes the sound here. So, so like I said, the idea of thinking about even the US now is kind of, uh, and this is why I use the term Is Europe screwed? Third question is, why did Qatar— why did Qatar decide to issue this statement publicly? They could have gone about it behind closed doors like they did some other stuff, like for example the expansion of the US, uh, military presence in Qatar. It was done quietly. Why the— why this one? They went about it publicly. And the fourth question is, what are the economic and geopolitical implications Not only because of that, but because also the changes that's taking place in the region, mainly in Syria. When you consider there is a pipeline that comes from, uh, Qatar, I think, through Turkey into Europe. All this has to do with the dynamics, uh, with the US now sending 3,000 troops into northeastern part of Syria. And again, I am working on this topic for you. I will provide you my analysis. As you know, My academic background was always focused on the region, so I kind of, uh, decided to do the analysis for you. So those are the key questions that we ought to ask before we delve deeper into the analysis and let you guys reach your own conclusion. So now here is the one of the questions that we're going to answer right away. Why you— Qatar decided to issue this warning, uh, because It says that if Europe fined it, meaning put a fine on Qatar under what's called the EU due diligence law. Now, you and I know all this hypes about the climate change and all this is nothing but hypes, no more, no less. This is no different than what happened few years ago with COVID Turns out to be what? A hoax, a lie from the government. There's no difference. So when Europe is screaming bloody loud about the due diligence for net zero and all that, it's hypes, it's nothing no more. So what Qatar end up doing is wanted to push back against these hypes. But here is the question for you guys, and I would really love to have your answer on the chat box. Do you think, in your opinion, Qatar is bluffing? Yes or no? In your opinion, yes, there is a reason to why they issue this statement. But in your opinion, deep down, based on your understanding, do you think Qatar is just bluffing? Let me see your answer in the chat box. Just yes or no. Okay, Steve, you say no. Amanda, you say no. Uh, John One, you say no. Hangin' G, no, Qatar is not bluffing. Okay, okay, I see your point, but there are those who argue that no, Qatar is nothing but bluffing, as part of what they've been saying before about maybe the Gaza issue, maybe some other issues that all the Arabs do is talk. However, this one might be slightly different, the reason being— why is this? Is because Qatar has other alternatives. Two main things. One of them has to do with the contract they signed with China for 27 years of providing them gas, which means what? They do have another market. So that's why it might not look like they're bluffing. They might move forward if Europe end up fining them. On the other hand, the counterargument to that, that other countries going to see what Qatar did, so Europe will end up, you know, sort of taking a step back by not issuing these threats and fines and all this stuff, because they trying to sort of intimidate even countries from within the European Union. I'll give you two examples, Hungary and, uh, Uh, what's, what's the other country, uh, that President Xi made the visit to? Serbia. Yeah, well, we all know what Europe's been doing to Hungary specifically regarding immigration, forcing down the policy on, on, on, on Hungary. Now with Qatar, they're going to say, heck no, if you put the fine and you move forward with that, we're going to cut off the gas. Because Qatar knows there is already another avenue that has been cut off also. Another word, Russia has turned off the spigots as of January 1st of this year, which means what? Gas is not coming through Ukraine because it comes through Ukraine and, and divert to 6 countries. Moldova and— Moldova and Slovakia, I think they're going to be impacted, but Europe will be impacted even further. And this is why— and I concur with those who say no to the answer, that I am also leaning towards that, that Qatar is not bluffing on this. Qatar might bluff on some others, being the Arab country it is. Yeah, they might, but for this one is slightly different. So, but before I'll go further, let me do some geography here for you guys because you need to know where the country is and all that. And then we'll do a little bit of history and we'll go into our analysis. So, so let me share screen with you and we go from there. All right, here is the map. Let me make it bigger for you so you'll see. So Qatar, uh, uh, of course, Western pronunciation, Qatar. But Qatar, that's the Arabic pronunciation of it. So Qatar is situated on the Qatari Peninsula that you're looking at there on the map, that extends from the Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf. So it's very, very strategic. So it is— here is the key— it is a Western Asian country. Yeah, to those who say, yes, it's Middle East, as I always say to you guys, for Western audience, they don't want to— because they don't understand geography very well, and I don't shy away from saying it— if you say West Asia, automatically they're going to think Far East. That's just how— so, but it is technically a West Asia nation or a country that is one of the 7 nations that make up the Arabian, uh, uh, uh, Peninsula. It is located in West Asia, or the Middle East, that is, in the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the northern and eastern hemispheres of the Earth. So there are two main countries that borders Qatar. One is United Arab Emirates in the southeast, and the second country is Saudi Arabia in the southwest. The Persian Gulf, of course, surrounds Qatar in the north and the east. Then there is also the, the Dalhat Salwa Bay, which surrounds the country along the western coast. The Gulf of Bahrain separates Qatar from the Kingdom of Bahrain, or Bahrain that is, because there is a kingdom, it's a, a small monarchy. So, so if I am to And I'm going to move the map a little bit here for you guys to see. If you look at this, is where the Persian Gulf, uh, which is a strategic— United Arab Emirates right here in the bottom, and Saudi Arabia. And this is where the Dawhat Salwa Bay on the western part. So I just want you to see that one. Okay, let me see this one here. There is another— I found another, uh, uh, interesting map that, uh, I wanted to share it with you just to see if it will, uh, uh, no, this is for the base, the military base. We'll do that later on as we move forward. So, all right, let's talk about a little bit of history. And again, I'm not gonna delve deeper into this, uh, I'm gonna just, uh, briefly talk to you about it here. Uh, let me share the screen— not screen rather, but I have pictures that I found. There we go. So interesting one. So now what is interesting about this one here? Well, Qatar's history is closely linked to the history of the Gulf region of the Arabian Peninsula. I remember when I wrote my— both my books, the Iran book and the Saudi book, I had to talk about geography and mentioned that the Arabian Peninsula and the the, the Gulf region. So now both of those locations, the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region, are of strategic importance. Why? Because they control the trade routes to India and Far East. So, and after experiencing the Persian domination for centuries, Qatar fell briefly under the— which European country, guys? I want just to check your knowledge here. Which European country is Qatar fell under back in the 15th century? And remember who was at that time the dominating force. Let me see if, uh, uh, just once again, like I always say, it's your participation in the conversation here is very, very important to me. So which European country Uh, no, it's not the British. And Eddie, good try, but it's not. Oh, you got it, Stephen! Stephen, you got it, it's the Portuguese. And it was in 1513, to be exact. That's exactly when it happened. It was the Portuguese at that time. So 1515, I'm sorry. So now, 1515, from 1515 till the Ottoman Empire conquest took over. So what happened at that time? The Ottomans sort of intermittently seized the country, Qatar, that is, until the beginning of World War I. And right at that time, it was a family dynasty, still till today. That's why to me it was like always this notion of, you know, was it like the— because the argument they make, and no offense to those monarchies, what I have nothing against them, It's their lifestyle, whatever. But when they say that it's God that has imposed this on us, come on, stop this nonsense. So the Al Khalifa family ruled the Qatari Peninsula from 1783. How that happened? By extending their area of authority from neighboring country. Which country that is, guys? Can you guess? Which country that was neighboring to Qatar used to be part of Qatar? Let me again check your knowledge here. A neighboring country in the region, remember, and that was the one that where Qatar, the Al Khalifa family extended their authority, uh, to this neighboring country that is now a sovereign nation, but back then it was different. No, not Yemen, uh, Stephen, again, it was Bahrain. Indeed, Bahrain. Yeah, that's how it was. But there was back then, it was a popular sentiment of resentment against the Al Khalifa. So, so a massive naval attack took place uh, in 1867. That's when it happened, at that time, by the ruling family in an effort to crash— yeah, they wanted to crash the Qatari rebellions. It's exactly what happened in, in Syria. So, so, but here is the thing that I need you to understand. Some historical records do not mention this. It wasn't just the Qatari rebellions. That Qatari rebellions was joined by Bahrain as well. So it was both Bahrain and Qatar jointly, the rebellions wanted to overthrow the Al Khalifa family. So the Qatari-Bahraini War led to a peace treaty, and here is the kicker, with the mediation of which country mediated this? Once again, think of the time frame, and this is very crucial for you to understand, guys. Which country mediated this peace treaty? Because understanding that will help you understand the current dynamics geopolitically for the last 100 years or so. Which country? A European country, that is, an imperialist, that is. So let me see which one you guys can guess, and there is only one at that time anyway. Uh, no, no, Alim, it's not. No, it's a European country. European country. JB, Alim, that's correct. Great Britain, or Britain, that is. That is correct. It was Britain that mediated that sort of the peace treaty, the Qatar-Bahraini War. That, that in itself Why did Britain get involved? Do you think they did because they care for peace? No, of course. So what happened? The Britain, uh, the British authorities at that time recognized the explicit— this is the key word— distinctness of Qatar from Bahrain. In other words, it was Britain that forced that division between Qatar and Bahrain. You all remember that saying, divide and conquer? That's exactly what happened. So, and this is where, after that, right away, the Al Thani family coming to power. They came to power, and Qatar became officially a British protectorate in 1916. Why '16? Because you know why, World War I during that time. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. So what happened after this? Because this is important, guys. If you— without understanding this, it will not make sense to you why the Gulf states behave the way they behave, or the whole region, the Arabian Peninsula and so forth, behave the way they behave politically, geopolitically, and even economically to a degree. So the sphere of influence of Britain at that time, because back then it was a British Empire, sort of diminished after World War II, particularly after what? The independence of Pakistan. You might think, what Pakistan has to do with this? A lot. And by the way, why year did Pakistan gain its independence? Once again, let me see on the chat box here. Yeah, it takes a while to show up here. I don't know why. Pakistan. Stephen Greenewald, you got it. 1947. So, so the independence of India, uh, uh, sort of particularly this one has to do with the independence of India and Pakistan because both happened in 1947. So what happened? And we don't care, it's not we don't care, the importance focus is the British rule in the Gulf, in the Arabian Peninsula region. That is why. Because the British, what they happened, what they did after this, they accepted, here is the key, they accepted Kuwait's independence in 1961. And announced 7 years later that they would quickly politically disengage from the Persian Gulf after, of course, putting in power the puppets. This is why— and again, I don't share history for the sake of just sharing facts, whatever, of course— but I share this with you to understand, for example, why all the monarchs in that part of the world have their assets in England? Why, for example, Pakistani generals— and I am aware of many of them— have their assets in England, in London? Why even some India businessmen, they have their assets in England? It's all by design. So, so what happened after this? Qatar, Bahrain, and 7, 7 other countries created a federation. But of course, regional disputes compelled Qatar to declare its independence in 1971. Independence from whom, you may ask? Because it's very interesting— independence from the coalition that would become the United Arab Emirates. Because remember Britain managed all this in a deceitful way to keep that tensions existed under the— under beneath the scenes to maintain division and to, to, to, uh, to keep the upper hand on controlling the region. Qatar became independent and sovereign state and member of the United Nations thereafter. Fast forward to 2013, What happened in 2013, the, uh, Al Khalifa bin Al Thani, which is the, the, at the time, the family that's been ruling, uh, sort of abdicated to give power to his son, the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the current one, that is. So, and under Emir, Qatar has experienced numerous sort of so-called liberal, whatever, it's all hype, snowball, no less. It has to do with the survival of the monarchy. This is why I always tell you guys what Arabs says versus what they do, especially the monarchies. They care less for the— in the case of the Palestinian cause, whatever, it's nothing but hypes to them. The survival— like, you look at Jordan right now, what did the King of Jordan care about the Palestinian for? For— or the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Bahrainis, United Arab Emirates, Morocco. You name it, Egypt even included, is now monarchy, but we the one who set the— empower the individuals we want to serve our own agenda. So, so, and this is where, uh, uh, of course we all remember what happened to Qatar in 2017 when the Saudis, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, and Egypt imposed blockade on Qatar. So yeah, it's all because— I won't be surprised that that blockade was orchestrated by us and the Britain and the British behind closed doors. So this is why it's important for you guys to understand this history, to put things in perspective, because without it, things might not make sense to you at all. So, uh, before I keep going here, please, if this is your first time watching my videos here, please make sure to subscribe to my channel here, uh, and I thank you very much for your support. So now let's get into our part of the analysis here. I had a chance to read an article by Sidre Piskait. I'm gonna put the link for you guys later on in the description. So it's spot on, but of course the article addressed just the surface. There is beneath the, the veil, as we say, as to really who's pushing this direction and why that is. So, so as I mentioned at the beginning, Qatar has warned, uh, the European Union, or Europe for that matter, uh, uh, the, uh, what's her name, the, the, the liar. I can't believe she's now back in power. Yeah, it tells you what's wrong with the Europeans. And it's no different than us here in the US. But again, I'm not criticizing, I'm just pointing the shortcomings of the Europeans. So Qatar threatened that it will cease gas export to European Union if the European Union countries impose penalties under recently adopted legislation on sustainability due diligence. It's ridiculous. And all this is nothing but hypes. And who announced this one here? It was none other than Mr. Al-Kabi. Al-Kabi is the minister of the energy part here. That he's a, he's savvy dude. I, I read, I was aware of his profile back when I was in Washington. You know how it works, you have access to the files. So that's what, uh, Saad Al-Kabi, uh, disclosed during an interview. So Now, what is this, uh, uh, just for you to understand, this sustainability nonsense that the EU is screaming, is screaming about, that has nothing to do with the realities. So the EU, European Union's, uh, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, this one has entered into force in July, you know. But now they decided to up the fine by 5% on any company's annual global revenue if the company failed to address adverse human rights or environmental impact. End of quote. This is in quote. It's laughable. So here is what's been stated, and I put it in quotes according to the article. It says, and I quote, if I— this is what Kabi responded— if I lose 5% of my revenue by supplying Europe, I won't supply Europe, end of quote. This is what Kabi is saying in response to this 5% increase in fine. So And all this comes within the context of, of course, the Ukraine-Russia conflict. And now it's even worse for Europe because as of 3 days ago or 4 days ago, Russia turned off the spigot completely for the pipeline that goes through Ukraine. Even is shutting that down because Ukraine wanted to sort of hit two birds with one stone. Makes it bad for Europe but also gain sympathy, which you and I know the comedian President Zelensky is— it's a joke. Why are we talking about— so, but the key importance is that during when the pipeline, the Nord Stream 2, that we blow up, you know, it's, it's no secret. I'm not saying something that is classified. It's common sense. When that blew up, of course Europe was struggling. Well, Europe, because we had a plan, and our plan was to bring down Europe to its knees economically, especially Germany, and we succeeded in doing that, of course, thanks to the incompetent Olaf Scholz's policies. So, so what happened is that Qatar has become critical supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe. You know, this is after Qatar already signed the deal with China, because I remember this and I did a video for it, guys. You, to those who are new to my channel here, just go check out, uh, it was few months ago. It was during the time when I said, Mike, my word, Qatar is going to go forward with— forward first with signing the contract with China. Why? Because it's a stable market. Then they're going to decide what to do with Europe. At that time, I wasn't sure whether Qatar is going to go forward with supplying Europe with gas, but it did after it signed the contract for 27 years with China. So, so, and this is where Qatar became a critical supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe. You know, and that is why it's very, very important to understand this dynamics. So when you hear Ursula— what's her name— the, the, the liar, uh, uh, uh, representative, when you hear her saying, oh, this is the corporate sustainability, due diligence, and so forth, it, it's nothing but hypes. Because the problem with this, the problem with this And, and here is what the media is not disclosing openly. What the media is not disclosing openly is that it's from within, within the EU. Criticism has already come up that this, this, this policy, this directive has already drawn criticism from within the EU. Because now countries have to transpose the new rule into the national law. In other words, that's like exactly what the European Union Parliament in Brussels was trying to force Hungary to do regarding the immigration by allowing Ukrainian refugees into Hungary. Hungary said, no, we don't want any Ukrainians or any refugees for that matter or any immigrants. It's their country. I wish my country has the borders secure. I remember when I was going into China and I crossed into, uh, for example, Hong Kong or into Taiwan or into Macau, I had to go through the border. You know why? Because they want to know who's coming in and who's leaving the country. Do you blame them for that? No. And of course the procedure was seamless. Because I didn't talk to anybody. I had my passport. You scan your passports, they know who you are because you already been in country and you have a visa. No issues. This is exactly why European now, uh, countries from within Europe— this is where I see— remember the question I asked you at the beginning, the economic and geopolitical implications? This is what I'm starting to see more and more cracks inside the EU. It's gonna, it's gonna expand even further because when the EU Parliament now want to force European countries to adopt this directive into the national law by 2026, within one year, and by 2027, they, the European Parliament, wants to start applying this directive to companies. So this is why Qatar wanted to get ahead of it. That's why they issued the warning. And I don't think so they bluffing. They thinking ahead, which is smart. I wish Qatar can think ahead for the issue of the Palestine. Yeah, because you can't— you, you have to— when you take stand, you take stand on all matters. You don't cherry-pick the issues. I understand about national interest, but that's, that's a conversation for, for, for another day. And this is what the European Parliament wants to do in gradual phase. That's like what they did with COVID gradual. You all remember, right? Is the same argument. So one thing for sure is that this directive This sustainability nonsense stuff is part of the EU broader strategy to align corporate practices with the goal of achieving what? Zero net emission by 2050. Yeah, good luck with that. They were, they were trying to force it on India. Well, India depends on coal because India's infrastructure is not where it needs to be, so they have to depend on all. So, so it behooves the Qataris to move forward with this warning. It's like, that's it, you don't even warn them, go ahead and cut off the gas. To me, that's what decision is. That's what matters when you say, uh, you know, you take a leadership position and you say, no, I made decision, I'm going to move forward no matter what. Because if Qatar keeps flip-flopping, Europeans gonna guess that, ah, they just talk, no more, no less. That's all it is. Or remember what Marcus Aurelius said, watch what a man does, not what he says. And I say it, and I don't shy away from it, Arabs, Muslim countries, they do more talking than they do action. Not all, of course. I shall not generalize. I never generalize. I am talking in a broader term. So this is where, when the Europeans now trying to push this on country, uh, first of all, the European countries that are part of the EU they need to make a decision even, even if it is worth it staying in that block. Like for example Hungary. Hungary needs to make a decision. Mr. Orbán needs to decide what's better for his country, because now by Russia turning off the spigot of gas to Europe, Hungary is going to be impacted. So, and I, I'm gonna share one com— two comments, one from Kenny L1, he's a, he's a, in our community, he regarding this topic, and he wrote, and I quote, looks like Europe is entering the Dark Ages 2.0. Literally, Europe is going dark. Cities and towns have deemed or turned off lights during non-peak hours. Public buildings, monuments, and landmarks may be lit for fewer hours or not at all. In a satellite image, Europe is looking dimmer. Isn't this a retrogression to the Dark Ages? End of quote. Spot on, Kenny. Thank you for sharing this one. And the same argument but on a different subject, uh, Europe is, is kind of finding itself in this lost The jungle. Hangin' G, you wrote, and I remember I saved it, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6 patent infringement. Huawei— get this, guys— Huawei, the, the telecom company in China, Huawei was awarded €1 billion in Europe. Why? Because Netgear has to compensate Huawei for IPR theft and legal costs. Very interesting. Thank you, Heng NG, for sharing this one. I am— so this is why you need to understand. So Qatar, they're gonna be thinking, why bother with Europe? We have a big Chinese market. Who cares? Cut off the gas. But they have to take stand. They have to show that what they say matters. So when al-Kaabi says that we're gonna cut off gas to Europe, then do it. Don't just talk about it. And this, as I said, came on the heels of what Russia just did on January 1st of this year, turned off the spigot through the, uh, uh, Ukraine, because there are pipelines that go through Ukraine to 6 countries, by the way, just for you guys to know, uh, So Ukraine is— but this one here from Qatar is separate one. This one doesn't go through, of course, because geographically doesn't make sense. But there is another pipeline that goes through Turkey. Now Turkey will be the crucial key watching this dynamics. Why? Because Turkey is more concerned about the Kurds in northeastern part of Syria. And the reason for that is because we are supporting them behind closed doors. Turkey understand. That's why we shipped it. We just shipped 3,000 troops to Northern Syria, and I'm going to do an analysis for you guys, recorded one, that is. You need to understand those dynamics. But speaking of Qatar, once again I'm saying maybe they'll move forward with this. So you have to understand that most of those countries in the region Uh, let me see if I can find the, uh, I don't know where I put it. I had a, I had an interactive map that shows the, uh, Magna Carta map. Yeah, no, not this one. Multipolar. Anyway, I gotta move on. The interesting aspects about this has to do with the US Yeah, American presence in the region and mainly in Qatar. And this is why I'm saying, because you guys are smart enough to know, because like I always say, and I'm not saying it to be Mr. Nice, by now I feel comfortable saying that you are able to read between the lines. When you think about it, Qatar is issuing a warning to Europe. The US wants the European economy to sink even further. We want— we want— don't want Europe to move up, especially Germany, France, and all those. We don't— we don't want them to move up. So, and when you think also that US has a major presence in Qatar, do you think this decision was purely Qatar's, or was it influenced from behind the scenes? So that's something to think about, to ponder about. And why am I talking about this? Because when you consider the US presence in the region, West Asia or Middle East, that is, we have about 40,000 military personnel in the region. And as you know, the US Fifth Fleet— let me show you the map if I, uh, doesn't show this one here. Uh, no, I do have one if I am not mistaken. That's why I save those maps, because I know they're gonna come handy. Right here, guys. Uh, but it's very small, you won't see it. Yeah, the small, small entities. No, it's not showing clearly here. Yeah, this is not bad right here. So at least when you think about the 40,000, when you think about— I'm sorry, the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Okay, think about it. The US has the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, has about 28,000 military personnel in Kuwait. It's almost like we, we own Kuwait. We have, uh, 28,000 in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. So, and this for the cost, okay? They say they covering the cost. I don't think so. This is the cost of about 60% or $650 million a year to sustain the presence of the US in this part. So this is— look, look where United Arab Emirates, and I'm pointing at it. Look where Gulf of Oman. So look where Kuwait is. And that's why when you think about all this you're gonna realize, oh, it's the US presence that is there. And if, like I asked at the beginning, why is Qatar making this publicly? Because stuff like that, guys, doesn't— it's, it's— you have to understand the motives for why certain decisions are made openly, or publicly, that is. Once again, I give you that example or the comparison. When Qatar just signed about a month ago, or 3 weeks to be exact, signed to renew its deal with the US for another decade with the presence of US military, uh, presence in Qatar, they did it quietly. So why they didn't announce that openly, but for this one they did? It's right there. So, and the deal that the US has reached was about the presence of the US in Al Ubeid Air Base in Qatar for another 10, 10, 10 years. So, and of course, this was a leak inside Washington. Nobody was supposed to know about it, but there are insiders. Sometimes the government leaks its own information. Because to put pressure on the country. And I bet you this, knowing what I know, I bet you it was the Department of Defense that leaked this information to a major media outlet in the US. They work in coordination behind the scenes. And the reason why? To put pressure on Qatar, because now it's public knowledge, because the Muslim world— or even people in Qatar is going to say, what the heck, more American presence here? That's like what happened in Jordan. You remember that base that was attacked and what the Jordanian government said? Oh, that's on the border, that's on the Iraqi territory or Syrian territory, that is, has nothing to do with Jordan, which is a lie. The Jordanian government doesn't want the people in Jordan to know. The same arguments can be made about Saudi Arabia. Does not want the Saudis to know that there are military US presence in Saudi Arabia. Same in Bahrain, same in Kuwait, same in Qatar, so same in Egypt. So that is why I, I, you, you have to understand this dynamic. So, and again, when you think about, uh, what Qatar has purchased recently. There are two types of— and I'm not going to get into the details of the weapons, it's just to highlight to you some advanced precision kill weapons that Qatar had just purchased from the US. Yeah, that's part of the deal. There is another armor stuff here that, that one I think from either Raytheon or Lockheed Martin, I, I don't remember exactly, guys. But it won't matter. I just wanted to, uh, uh, the same thing that with the Saudis sign a $60 billion check to purchase all the— these weapons. Well, here is my question. Here is my question to those leaders if they happen to watch this, you know, what are you going to do with all your weapons if you couldn't even defend the Palestinians, or at least give it to the Palestinians to use? Straightforward. They buy in the weapons because they are pressured by the US to buy the weapons. Later along, whether the weapon function properly or not, that's another conversation for another day. We all know what happened, that the Russians shut down the F-18, right? All the, the ATACMS missiles been shut down. So, uh, the, the, the defense, the Patriot system that Israel has, useless. The Saudis used it during the, their confrontation with the, uh, Houthis, and they couldn't defend themselves because the missiles were able to go through. So the Patriot missile defense system is useless, let alone the fraction, the, the cost of that system in comparison to others. So I'll say or pose the same argument for those leaders, the Qataris, the Bahrainis, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, you name it. Egypt and all those. So what are you amassing all these weapons for? Collection? So you feel good? And this is one thing about when I say most, not all, most Arab and Muslim leaders talk too much. It's in action that matters. So I had, uh, one particular— oh, I don't have it here. Yeah, I don't have it. I thought I had the image of, uh, uh, the site for the, uh, Al Ubaid base. But in any event, so suffice it to say, and I'm going to close with this, uh, uh, uh, not statement, but just to reiterate what I talked about here. The idea of that now Qatar issued this warning, are they going to move forward with it, you know? Because if they're really know that they, they want to take stand. And I won't be surprised— once again, guys, this is my own opinion— I won't be surprised that there is a coordination that took place behind the scenes between the US and Qatar. You know, you know, I used to travel to the region. I was very familiar of whom we met with, uh, the nature of the topics and all that. So because I took part of those negotiations Uh, that's usually how it works, so we shall see. Uh, but this to me is very, very interesting at the beginning of the year. That's going to set the tone for what lies ahead, and I'm going to be working on the analysis for almost similar topic but from another angle and from a different direction altogether and share it with you in the upcoming days. So Anyway, this what I had to share with you guys here. Let me take a look one more time here to say, uh, to say thank you to, uh, Fernanda G. Thank you so much for your Super Sticker, truly appreciate you, and I'm very, very grateful and wishing you a happy New Year. Uh, Rafael, as always, man, can't thank you enough for your continued support. You guys, you know, and I do— I don't shy away from saying, you know, the support for this channel depends on you. I don't have some financial backers, and I don't do that. You all know. And if that ever happens, you will know about it first. Straightforward. Uh, Rafael, once again, thank you. You wrote, Prince, uh, MBS bin Salman said, why can't we be Europe? What can they do? We can do, we can do. He was not talking for himself, the Arabs were talking to the world. Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah, but remember, the, uh, the survival— this is the key that I need you to get out of all this. When it comes down to the Gulf States or the Arab— some Arab world, some Arab countries, or in the Muslim— or the Muslim world, that is, it all has to do with the survival of the regime. That is what tops the list. It's not the welfare of their people, it's not whatever, is the survival of them. Because the massive corruption and most of those assets are in Europe or the US. I know this for facts, okay? This is one thing I need you guys to understand and keep in mind as we move forward. All right, once again, guys, For those who wants to support the channel, I would greatly appreciate your support because remember, we're just starting the year. Uh, there is a lot of stuff that I am planning on doing that requires a serious funding, that including some upcoming trips. If you guys want me do this, I've been already starting to sort of, uh, uh, put the pins on the maps as to the locations I need to visit to report to you. This is about you. Knowing, uh, the facts from the ground while I'm there. And that one will require serious funding because of the different locations I plan on going to. Nothing's going to be disclosed at this point till I finalize my own planning to make sure that is feasible timewise, locations, and I have to find out the administrative requirements and so forth. Then I'll do the math, the calculations for the funding then I'll share it with you. If the, the community funds that trip, I'll do it. If it's not, I won't. Simple as that. But this one is for the channel. If you want to support the channel, I will be very, very grateful. As always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.