Great post - my only comment would be that not to long ago there was a coup d’etat in Qatar with I think the son deposing the father. My gut tells me that this coup must be part of the overall narrative but I can’t find it being mentioned in most of these discussions.
The military coup in 2012 failed.
In June of this year: http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2013/06/coup-in-qatar.html
Qatar will pursue its ‘independent behaviour’ - new emir
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/uk-qatar-emir-idUKBRE95O06220130626
David Roberts, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute based in Doha, said the speech had a “down to business tone, indicating that the country has work to and he is eager to get on with it”.
“It strongly suggested that Qatar will continue on its path with regard to foreign policy; there was no attempt to backtrack or rein that in. There was certainly no equivocation,” he said.