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Emir Meshaal Al-Ahmed’s appointee as prime minister is a former ambassador to the US, who served in government for a decade from 2001, before resigning over a corruption scandal.

Shortly after taking his oath of office on 20 December, new Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah used his speech to the National Assembly to complain that MPs and the government had “harmed the interests of the country”. Mishaal also criticised a series of pardons by this predecessor, the late Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, pointing to a potentially significant shift in style at the top in Kuwait – if the new emir’s forthright words prove more than PR.

GSN looks at some of the main contenders to be nominated as the heir apparent by incoming Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Selection of another older generation crown prince is the likely outcome.

The late Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is unlikely to be remembered as one of Kuwait’s defining leaders, but he was an affable, honest man who was called upon to navigate a difficult political environment.

Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is due to take his oath as emir at a special session of the National Assembly (parliament) in the coming days, following the death of his half-brother Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah on 16 December. Given Mishaal has been the de facto ruler since November 2021, the handover should be seamless, while the more critical element will be his choice of crown prince.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf’s admission to hospital in late November has directed renewed attention on the succession process in Kuwait, where Crown Prince Mishaal has been in de facto control for the past two years and now appears to be taking steps to ensure some of the more contentious political issues are resolved before he takes the top job.

Kuwait may be heading for a change in government and yet another general election, with a series of political challenges facing the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah – who, GSN understands, is in any case losing interest in the job.

Kuwait recorded a KD6.5bn ($21bn) surplus for fiscal year ending 31 March 2023, its first annual surplus since 2014/15.

Tensions between Kuwait’s government and the National Assembly (parliament) are on the rise once again, with one minister stepping down in late October and further resignations possible. However, the sparring partners now share one thing in common, with Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al Ahmed Al Sabah openly critical of both sides in a late October speech made at the opening of the new session of parliament.

Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al Ahmed Al Sabah used part of his speech at the opening of parliament late October to express his surprise at the Iraqi Constitutional Court ruling in September which annulled an agreement between Kuwait and Iraq to share the Khor Abdullah waterway. 

Even before the new Gaza war shattered comfortable assumptions about regional security, the global economic climate had been hostile, as shown in analysis of the International Monetary Fund's new reports on the global outlook and regional economic performance.

KIO allegations: Finance minister Fahd Al-Jarallah has referred the Kuwait Investment Authority’s London outpost, the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), to the public prosecutor over a series of alleged offences including the illegal disclosure of confidential information between 2018-22. The move was announced by the Ministry of Finance on 16 October.

There have been public protests in a number of countries around the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) in support of Palestinians and against Israeli actions in Gaza, but in many countries they have been limited in scope. Huge crowds have taken to the streets in capitals from Rabat to Baghdad, but there have been no major events in the countries where the public space is most tightly controlled, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Governments across the region are trying to ensure the war between Hamas and Israel doesn’t escalate, with potentially disastrous expansion to other fronts. Meanwhile the monarchies and others are trying to assuage the anger many of their citizens feel towards Israel’s actions in Gaza, in a conflict that has profoundly upset recent comfortable assumptions about the regional status quo.

China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has used a routine rotation of its ships based in Djibouti to double its presence in the region, just as the United States Navy is preparing to deploy its first aircraft carrier strike group (CSG) to the region for two years.