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Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned home on 19 March, following his latest trip to receive medical treatment in Italy. He had left just over two weeks earlier, on 4 March.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are reshaping their regional outlook, as transactional relationships replace some of the more ideologically-driven approaches taken since the 2011 Arab Spring. Former outcasts led by Iran and Syria are being welcomed into Gulf palaces once again, at least in part due to concerns the US can no longer provide a trusted security umbrella. In this rapidly changing environment, Iran could yet emerge as a significant new market for GCC investors.

The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the September 2022 general election and reinstate the previous National Assembly (parliament) has wide-ranging implications, going beyond its immediate impacts of wiping out any legislation passed since the poll and returning Marzouq Al-Ghanim as speaker.

The Kuwaiti authorities are reviving long-running plans to drastically reduce the number of foreign workers, despite signs that such a policy could harm Kuwait’s ability to develop a viable post-oil economy.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left on another trip to receive medical treatment in Italy on 4 March – following four such journeys last year. He had returned from his previous trip in late December.

The Kuwaiti political scene is undergoing another of its periodic resets, with Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Sabah reappointed as prime minister, following the resignation of his government. He is expected to announce his new cabinet in the coming days, but few significant changes are expected in what will be his third government in eight months.

The Kuwaiti government has proposed cuts to capital spending but sharp rises in current expenditure as part of its budget for fiscal year 2023/24, which starts on 1 April. 

Kuwait has all but left behind its former status as a pre-eminent hub of regional diplomacy, as the leadership is widely perceived to have walked away from its role as mediator in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and its neighbours. Concerned by this apparent inaction on the regional stage, GSN has been asking: why has Kuwait apparently retired from playing such a significant diplomatic role?

Many issues that have divided senior Al-Sabahs seem to have been resolved at a major parley between opposing players in the Kuwaiti ruling family.

The lengthy and rather dismal state of Kuwait’s anti-corruption campaign continues to be a central focus in domestic politics.

Kuwaiti sources believe it is likely the government will resort to another unconstitutional resignation and cabinet reshuffle to avoid facing members of parliament (MP)’s calls for debt relief and other populist measures.

Gulf countries have despatched search and rescue teams, medical equipment, temporary housing and other relief supplies to Turkey and Syria in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit in the early hours of 6 February. Qatar and the UAE were among the first to respond; flights left from Kuwait the following day. Aid has also been forthcoming from Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Turkey’s Baykar Technology is to supply an unspecified number of its Bayraktar TB2 armed drones to Kuwait's Ministry of Defence, in a $370m deal announced in January. The deal means 28 countries have now signed contracts for the Bayraktar TB2, including Qatar.

Two defendants accused by Kuwait's Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) of paying its former director general Fahad Al-Rajaan millions of dollars in illegal commissions have failed to have the case moved from London to Switzerland.

Kuwait's ambassador to the United States Jasem Al-Budaiwi took over as secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council on 1 February, replacing his compatriot Nayef Al-Hajraf who had been in the post since February 2020.