Qatar’s emir said Tuesday his country was “a thousand times better off” without Saudi Arabia and the UAE, months into a dispute between the neighbors and former allies. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani told the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, that his government had nonetheless put in place contingency plans as he expected the bitter political dispute to drag on, AFP reports. “We do not fear the boycott of these countries against us,” the emir said in Doha. “But vigilance is required.” His government was working on “introducing a number of food security projects” and had “given special attention to water security” as it looked to a future without its former Arab allies.