Kuwait's deputy foreign minister, Khaled al-Jarallah, said diplomatic efforts are "ongoing".

"The latest of these efforts and ideas will be presented during a Gulf-American summit in September, and this summit will be an opportunity to end this crisis," he told AFP.

US President Donald Trump seemed firmly behind the Saudis at first, but has since called Sheikh Tamim a "great gentleman" and urged a peaceful outcome.

In the muddle, corruption allegations against Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have surfaced over his dealings with the Gulf states, notably Qatar.

Diplomacy may eventually be supplanted by imperatives such as Saudi domestic concerns or weariness over its joint military efforts with the UAE in the Yemen war.

The crisis has impacted east African states with alliances to the Gulf, rewarded defence contractors, and may have massive ramifications for Qatar's 2022 football World Cup.

With nationalism in the Gulf on the rise, Roberts said "the crisis has been an opportunity for Qataris to demonstrate their national fervour".

Saudis, for their part, have used social media to poke fun at their tiny neighbour, while Qataris mutter darkly about Emiratis.

It "has created animosities that may take years, even a generation, to overcome", said Ulrichsen.

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