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As the United Kingdom is gearing up for Brexit, there are some valuable lessons it can learn from the blockade of Qatar, according to a report in The Independent.
The report said if Britain crashes out of the European Union with no deal, trade and travel will become much more difficult, but that is very different from the imposition of a air, land and sea blockade on Qatar.
Yet there are lessons in Qatar's experience for the UK. While there has been an outpouring of national sentiment Qatari patriotism is on the rise like never before the policy response has been to seek to make Qatar more open to the world rather than less.
Qatar has therefore lifted visa restrictions, offered permanent residency to parts of its large foreign workforce, and strengthened its commitment to human rights and freedom of speech.
Qatar has made enormous investments in education, science, medicine and cultural institutions, with the goal of becoming an international hub. Its goal is to be a more attractive destination.
As the UK considers its place in the world in the face of Brexit, there are some lessons it could draw from Qatar, the report added.
The UK should become more open, not less; increase investment, not diminish it; and draw on our enormous scientific and intellectual talent, not alienate it.
There are three things the government could immediately do. First, scrap the net migration target and allow more international students to study in the UK ” and permit them to contribute to the economy with post-study work visas.
Second, increase investment in research so that the UK matches the top quartile of advanced countries (the UK has been falling behind for more than a decade) and increase public investment in innovation.
Third, make clear that Britain welcomes talent from all over the world, and is open rather than closed.
Distant as Qatar is from the UK culturally, economically and geographically, the UK Prime Minister Theresa May might draw some comfort from Qatar's resilience in the face of extraordinary pressure and much-changed regional circumstances.
