FP: "How Qatar Lost the Middle East."

At Foreign Policy: "How Qatar Lost the Middle East."

Damn. I must not have been paying attention again. Not only has somebody misplaced the Middle East yet again, but this time it's Qatar. When exactly did Qatar have the Middle East? Even Nasser never had it all. A microstate with oil, gas, and Al Jazeera had the whole Middle East? And then lost it? It's a pretty big thing to just lose.

This reminds me of the "Who lost China?" and  "Who lost Iran?" debates in US politics.

I'm pretty sure it's still there and not lost at all. Go to Cyprus and then head straight ahead or to the right. It's actually hard to miss.

Can you lose something you never actually had?

No, but you can over-bet on a weak hand at poker.