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Yemen is in a very fragile state. After 33 years of rule, president Ali Abdullah Saleh let go of power in February 2012, and the nation entered a two-year transitional period intended to steer it towards democracy and stability. His successor, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has inherited a nation beset by violence and competing factions. A smouldering insurgency in the north, secessionism in the south, a powerful jihadist movement and remnants of the old guard are all high on the agenda.

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, and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the crackdown on political activism.

Oman has been governed since 1970 by Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al- Said, the fourteenth ruler of the Al-Busaidi dynasty, which was founded in 1750. Unlike other Gulf monarchies, Oman’s sultan does not rely on his relatively small family, but on a variety of allies typically drawn from the merchant elite. Qaboos, who deposed his father in a bloodless coup, was briefly married but has no children or heir apparent; his successor is expected to emerge from a small pool of family members.

The Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) was officially set up on 25 May 1981 in Abu Dhabi, when the leaders of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates agreed to set up a council whose aims were to “achieve unity”, formulate “similar regulations” in fields including economics, customs, commerce, communications, education and culture, and to stimulate scientific and technological progress.

The past year has been a political rollercoaster for Kuwait, and there has been little progress in dealing with the system’s underlying problems. The opposition won a parliamentary majority in February but, in June, the emir dissolved parliament on a technicality. Fresh elections were held on 1 December, but were boycotted by the opposition, angry that the emir decreed a change to the electoral law, cutting the number of votes to one per person, a move the opposition says favours pro-government candidates.

Insurgent attacks continue to expose Iraq’s fragility. Dozens of civilians have already been killed in 2013, including 27 Shiites killed by a suicide bomber as they waited at a bus stop to return home from Arbaeen rites in Kerbala. In mid-December, dozens were killed in a series of attacks in disputed northern territories at the heart of a Kurdish-Iraqi standoff. Pressure has been building there since November, when Baghdad set up a new military command, to the outcry of the Kurdish Regional Government. There have also been massive anti-government street protests by Sunnis in recent weeks, prompted by grievances including marginalisation, anti-terrorism laws and the state of public services.

Iran’s poor human rights record and repressive treatment of women have been widely condemned, but it is the nuclear debate that commands most attention. The United Nations, European Union and United States have all slapped heavy sanctions on Tehran, to attempt to deter it from building atomic weapons, but Tehran denies wrongdoing and talks have yet to yield much progress. Iran’s relationship with its Gulf neighbours is characterised by the Shiite/Sunni divide. The Gulf Sunni monarchies regularly accuse Iran of stirring dissent among their Shiite communities, and the battle between SaudiArabia andTehran for regional dominance underlies much of the regional narrative.

Iraq’s Kurdish region is top of the agenda in Iraq’s current political crisis. The region has an identity very distinct from that of Iraq’s, and since 1991 has been de facto autonomous. The 2005 constitution stipulated that Iraqi Kurdistan is a federal entity recognised by Iraq and the UN, and the 2010 Erbil agreement with Baghdad outlined how power would be shared. But the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has protested its lack of implementation, and relations with Baghdad are highly acrimonious.

Observers say that Riyadh governor Prince Sattam Bin Abdelaziz is effectively no longer at the helm and has lost nearly all his sight.

Qatar has been granted a $1bn licence to invest in Chinese capital markets, according to newswires.

On 27 November, Crown Prince Salman said King Abdullah was “well and in good health” after back surgery on 17 November. A day earlier, Salman had “reassured” Saudis about the king’s health at a cabinet meeting.

The narrative for Iran’s passage from Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s modernising, economically rational nuclear programme of the 1950s-70s to one capable of delivering an atomic bomb has been marked by persistent delays and a profound lack of intelligence – and understanding – of players’ intentions.

Charismatic ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) is the architect of today’s Dubai. Named federal vice president and prime minister in 2006, he helped increase the role of Dubai in federal affairs, which had been overwhelmingly dominated by Abu Dhabi’s Al-Nahyan.

Iran’s nuclear programme remains at the heart of its troubled relationship with the West.Attempts to find a diplomatic solution have yet to make any significant progress

Foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has resumed his busy schedule after returning to the Kingdom on 2 November following months abroad after surgery.