Jihad al-Zein is the opinion editor of the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, where he is also a regular columnist. A longtime observer of regional politics, particularly of Turkey and Iran, he turned his opinion page into one of the premier outlets for regional opinion at the time when the newspaper was still run by the late publisher and owner Ghassan Tueni.

Diwan asked Zein to comment on the ongoing Qatar crisis, in particular whether it signaled the end of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and what the implications of the crisis are for Al-Jazeera, Qatar’s principal satellite news channel. The interview was conducted on July 10.