With an estimated US$335 billion (S$447 billion) of assets in its sovereign wealth fund, Qatar - the world's richest country - still had to dig deep into its pockets to limit the repercussions. It also sought help from Turkey and Iran.
"Qatar is a country with massive financial resources so of course it could afford to pay for the additional costs," National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute (MEI) senior research fellow Mattia Tomba told The Straits Times.
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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 12, 2018, with the headline Isolated Qatar reaches out to the world. Subscribe