A few days in Doha...
14th June 2026
I’ve spent the past few days in Doha, Qatar.
I’m the kind of person who likes heat. Not the gentle warmth of an English summer’s day, but real, sauna-like heat — the kind you can feel in your bones. That’s what you get in Doha at this time of year.
It’s not for everyone. Before long it will be simply too hot, too humid, for many visitors. The best time to come is between November and April, when the temperatures are more forgiving and the city is at its most serene.
From here, you could take a long boat trip to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that has dominated international headlines in recent months. It is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, a strategic chokepoint through which a significant portion of the global oil trade passes.
This week, we may have seen the beginning of the end of the conflict that left Hormuz effectively blocked.
Maybe.
As I write, I have not seen a confirmed copy of the US-Iran agreement. That makes it difficult to say much with confidence.
What is clear is the sense of relief. You can feel it far beyond the Gulf. Markets, governments and businesses around the world have been watching events here closely, aware of how much was at stake.
But alongside that relief is something else: caution.
The feeling that this could unravel at any moment.