Big choices ahead after a year marked by death and recession

It has been a year when war compounded misery across the wider region, from Yemen – where Saudi Arabia remains mired in conflict with the Houthis – to Libya, where the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) was effectively saved from UAE-backed forces bearing down on Tripoli by the intervention of Turkey. The Saudi/UAE-led boycott of Qatar continued, although regional leaders and the administration of US President Donald Trump worked to mend the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)’s deepest rift.