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Since late 2011, the UAE has arrested and detained dozens of people it says are a threat to national security, most of them members of Jamiat Al-Islah wa Tawjih, an Islamist group with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Islah denies any wrongdoing, saying it is simply advocating a more participatory form of politics, and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the crackdown on political activism. On 4 March, 94 people thought to be linked to Al-Islah went on trial, accused of attempting to seize power.

Newly appointed Medina governor (GSN 939/4) Prince Faisal Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz has launched a land distribution scheme – according to local media, 3,800 citizens will benefit from its first phase. Land has sometimes proved to be a contentious issue in Saudi Arabia, where key plots owned by high-ranking citizens have lain undeveloped for decades

US secretary of state John Kerry’s get-to-know-you tour of Europe and the Gulf spelled out the extent of the challenges facing US policy in President Barack Obama’s second term. Washington’s determination to ‘pivot toward Asia’ has grabbed the headlines, and the notion of loosening relationships with certain Gulf states might appeal.

Abu Dhabi's ruling Al-Nahyan dominated the federal government until early 2006, when Dubai's charismatic ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR), was named federal vice president and prime minister. Dubai has become known as much for its debt crisis as for its showy and record-breaking architecture. From 2006, it played an increasing role in federal affairs, but its debt crisis resulted in power shifting back towards Abu Dhabi, which aspires to a more closely bound federation than its neighbour.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, and to give wider public access to some of our reporting and analysis, GSN has unlocked the archive of its newsletters published in 2003 (accessible at www.gsn-online.com). The invasion was hardly a surprise; US determination to depose Saddam Hussein had been clear for months, but too little thought went into its repercussions. Few of those behind the invasion saw the potential for the turbulence it unleashed. A reading of pre-2003 GSN shows just how inevitable conflict was. ‘Global terrorism’ was high on the agenda as the George W Bush administration came to power.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani spent mid-February in South America. He and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani visited three countries, meeting Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Ecuadorian leader Rafael Correa, and signing agreements.

In November, Mohammed Bin Nayef was the first of the next generation to be appointed to a top post when he was named interior minister, but on 1 February, all eyes were back on the second generation as the king appointed his half brother Miqrin second deputy prime minister – a post traditionally viewed as equivalent to third in line to the throne

The estate of the bankrupt Icelandic bank Kaupthing has settled a dispute with the emir’s brother, former deputy prime minister Mohammed. The dispute stemmed from a deal the sheikh made to buy shares in the bank just before its 2008 collapse through his Q Iceland Holding. The bank had issued legal proceedings against the sheikh in Iceland.

Anniversaries are by their nature retrospective. As Bahraini opposition MPs gathered for a seminar in Britain’s House of Lords on 12 February – one of many events marking the two years that have passed since the start of the small island’s uprising – the mood was one of remembrance, not expectation. Farida Ghulam, wife of jailed political leader Ebrahim Sharif and a senior Waad party member in her own right, recounted what had happened to her husband and the other high-profile political prisoners jailed with him.

The UAE Armed Forces awarded defence contracts worth Dh5.2bn ($1.4bn) on 18 February, the second day of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2013). According to state news agency Wam, the UAE sealed contracts with 17 national and international contractors.

In the past few months, Doha has hosted talks on Syria and Darfur, and announced the imminent opening of an office of the Taliban; it continues to position itself in the new Egypt, not least as a critical donor, having given $5bn to Cairo and pledged much more.

Bahrain’s National Consensus Dialogue tentatively began on Sunday 10 February with a three-hour meeting between government officials and members of the political opposition in the opulent surroundings of the Al-Areen resort in Sukhair. Its chances of success, not good to begin with, were dimmed by violence on and around 14 February, the second anniversary of the uprising against autocratic rule.

Prince Turki Bin Salman has been appointed chairman of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), replacing his brother Faisal Bin Salman, who was appointed Medina governor in January. SRMG owns Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and Arab News.

The appointment of King Abdullah’s half brother Miqrin to the post of second deputy prime minister has delayed the potentially more divisive decision on who in the third generation will succeed.

It may finally be crunch time in Iraq for ExxonMobil, which in late 2011 led the charge north when it became the first major to sign a contract for exploration blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan. After months of back and forth, and meetings between chairman Rex Tillerson and (separately) Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and Kurdish Prime Minister Massoud Barzani on 21 and 22 January, Exxon has apparently been told to decide once and for all between its 60% stake in the $50bn West Qurna 1 project in the south and its production-sharing agreements in blocks still being explored in Iraqi Kurdistan (Al Qush, Arbat East, Baeshiqa, Betwata, Pirmam and Qara Hanjeer).