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Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) remains resolutely in command. Until Dubai’s indebtedness was revealed in 2008-09, the emirate’s other most influential powerbrokers tended not to be members of the ruling family. Since the debt crisis, Dubai has seen the emergence of the next generation of the Al-Maktoum, MBR’s sons

Baghdad has said it is delaying bidding for the next round of exploration rights by more than a month to May 30.

Deputy foreign minister Prince Abdelaziz Bin Abdullah was in London on 26 January for the opening of the Hajj exhibition at the British Museum.

The Gulf Co-operation Council is recalling its ambassadors from Syria, and expelling Syrian diplomats.

There was huge appetite for information on Qatar’s prominence in regional (and arguably global) politics when GSN’s editorial director visited Casablanca in early February. Is this due to the huge financial muscle of Qatar’s gas reserves? Has the tiny emirate become the West’s favourite stalking-horse? Or does Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani have a peculiar post-modern Wahhabi agenda? After a tumultuous year for Arab politics, the same questions are being asked from Algiers to Ankara.

CROWN PRINCE: Wedding

Bahrain was rocked by protests in February and March last year, an uprising largely crushed by security forces and troops. Following the unrest, a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) concluded human rights abuses had taken place, including the torture of many of those detained for taking part in protests.

Embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh left for medical treatment in the United States in January, stopping for a week in Oman en route. Under a plan drawn up by Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) neighbours, Saleh has left vice-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in charge until presidential elections set for 21 February, in which Hadi is the only candidate.

Syria is looking increasingly isolated and at risk of civil war. A League of Arab States mission has failed to staunch the violence and Bashar Al-Assad’s government does not appear ready to give ground. The UN says more than 5,400 people have been killed since protests erupted in March; Syrian officials say 2,000 members of the security forces have died.

Voter turnout in September for the election of half the purely consultative FNC was disappointing and it seems new members are not always consulted on policy. There has been heated debate this year after the government failed to consult the FNC before approving the 2012 budget.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad garnered moral backing during his mid-January voyage around five of Latin America’s ‘anti-imperialist’ states, but he seems to have come away with little material support to counter Iran’s growing crisis of international isolation – underlined on 23 January, when European Union foreign ministers agreed on the much-anticipated embargo on Iranian oil imports (effective from 1 July).

Second deputy prime minister and interior minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdelaziz was installed as crown prince in November in a reshuffle that saw Riyadh governor Prince Salman Bin Abdelaziz appointed defence minister. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdelaziz was made Salman’s deputy.

Many Iraqis looked on with trepidation as an upsurge in terrorist attacks, apparently intended to create a new Sunni-Shia conflict, coupled with rising sectarian political tensions to mark the US’ formal withdrawal of troops, which took place a fortnight before the planned 31 December departure.

Real GDP growth was recorded at 17% in 2010, and is forecast to accelerate to 19% in 2011, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV report issued in December. This considerable economic growth is due to Qatar having huge gas reserves, with significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity.

GSN has been told that Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil will almost certainly be seeking a bond for refinancing some of the Barzan debt.