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His exploits in his country’s 6-0 thrashing of North Korea were cheered by just one fan sporting the Gulf country’s colors. The one flag-waving fan in Qatar’s maroon colors Sunday was a South Korean woman who had traveled from her homeland to root for Qatar, according to Qatari officials. But the blockade’s effects on the tournament is not difficult to spot. Local organizers and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council were not made available for interviews. As it did during last summer’s World Cup, beoutQ is broadcasting the Asian Cup in its entirety, overlaying beIN’s logo with its own. At an under-19 game between the U.A.E. But the players were briefed to avoid discussing politics ahead of the Saudi Arabia match. Asked about the political implications of the game, Saudi Arabia’s captain and its coach both demurred, saying those thoughts were for others. “We appreciate the support because she’s the only fan who holds the Qatari flag in the U.A.E.,” al-Salat said. Qataris now need special clearance and two layers of vetting to travel into the Emirates, where many have family members.

I think the convulsions we are seeing in Australian politics right now — in fact , since John Howard was defeated in 2007 — are a culmination of decades-long trends that center on the slow decline of our two big political parties. There’s a void at the center of our politics because the public and the political class have both retreated. Again, this is happening in all Western democracies: people have stopped joining political parties and civic organizations with a political voice, and the parties have responded by making politics more elite and professional. At the last federal election, nearly 25 percent of voters gave their primary vote to an independent or small party, and that figure is on a slow upward trend as the primary vote of the two major parties declines. In fact, minority government might be the new norm in Australian federal politics. Unfortunately, however, I don’t think the cynicism about politicians actually motivates the public to get involved. In fact, it may just reinforce the retreat I talked about. Now, for the most part, that has not been terribly damaging — O.K., politics is hollowed out and Australians are deeply cynical, but by global standards the place is still pretty well run, and economically we are in enviable shape. What might that look like in Australia? Readers from all over the world, including Australia, have been sharing questions all week with the climate scientist Kate Marvel, who has already started answering some of them.