Matt Bevan

with the UAE deciding to go it alone and leave the oil alliance.

They no longer trust that Saudi Arabia will protect them just because they're family.

Qatar has been out of that family for a long time now, spending decades building a diverse network of allies and partners aimed at giving them some semblance of strategic security.

It played the game better than most, but that game is over now.

The people with power now don't think about consequences.

In the jungle times, strength is the only thing that matters.

And Trump, Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia have the strength.

Qatar will survive this crisis.

They're still rich and they still have the US military on their side.

But they will not feel nearly as secure.

Will people continue to choose Qatar as a place for negotiating if they're worried about Israeli airstrikes?

Will people invest and travel there if Iran might bomb them at any moment?

Is the relationship with America secure if the US president doesn't even know Qatar is home to the most important American military base in the Middle East?

Qatar was under the impression it had solved the problem of being a small country in a scary neighbourhood.

It hasn't.

This is The Jungle Times.

If you're not big and scary, you need to find a tree to hide in.

If you're listening is written by me, Matt Bevan.

Supervising producer is Cara Jensen-McKinnon.

It's produced by Adair Shepard and Pat Sunderland.