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Kuwait has been governed by the Al-Sabah family since the 18th century. It gained independence from Britain in 1961; a new constitution written that year confirmed the hereditary monarchy, but gave significant powers to an independent judiciary and an elected assembly. The emir – currently Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah – retains final say and political parties are banned. But the 50-member assembly has proven more vibrant than expected, and Kuwait has often been held up as a beacon for democratisation in the region. Friction between the elected parliament and the appointed government has been an ongoing problem, however, often resulting in paralysis of the state. Parliament has twice been shut down – from 1976 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1992 – and there have been three general elections since February 2012.

POLITICS: The Al-Khalifa came to power in 1783, taking its authority from the family’s conquest of the archipelago from the Persian empire. Britain, interested in maritime trade routes, entered into an alliance with the Al- Khalifa in 1820 and helped secure its rule; it was not until 1971 that Bahrain declared independence. A new constitution provided for a fully elected parliament, formed in 1973, but that was disbanded in 1975 after it fell out with the ruler. A partially elected body was reinstated in the 2002 constitution, but power lies primarily with the executive, and the preponderance of Al- Khalifa in key positions means lines between state and ruling family are very blurred. The Sunni royal family rules over a population that is majority Shiite. Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa has been king since 2002.

Having fought off mass protests and substantial civil unrest after his disputed re-election in June 2009, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now besieged by a resurgent clerical elite and supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who are fighting back against the president’s attempts to consolidate power.

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.

Established by King Abdelaziz (Ibn Saud) in 1932, the kingdom is the giant of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in terms of population, territory, oil wealth and its claim to religious authority. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, whose rulers have all been sons of Ibn Saud. On 23 January, on the death of his 90-year-old brother King Abdullah, Salman Bin Abdelaziz became Ibn Saud’s sixth son of to assume the throne.

After Friday prayers on 18 February, hundreds of stateless Arabs protested to demand their civil rights. The elite special forces used water cannon, tear gas, batons and smoke bombs to disperse the crowds.

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

Aspects of Dubai’s economy are looking much brighter, according to the authorities, but there are still serious concerns over other economic factors. Tourism appears to be recovering. But in the real estate market, property values are as much as 60% lower than at their 2008 peak and there are serious concerns over the refinancing of debt at Dubai’s government- related entities (GREs).

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.

Yemen is in a fragile state. The regime, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is besieged on several fronts, with a Houthi rebellion in the north, a secession movement in the south, and increased jihadi activity by groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) pushing the country on a downward trajectory.

The Al-Khalifa came to power in 1783, taking its authority from the family’s conquest of the archipelago from the Persian empire. Britain, interested in maritime trade routes, entered into an alliance with the Al- Khalifa in 1820 and helped secure its rule; it was not until 1971 that Bahrain declared independence. A new constitution provided for a fully elected parliament, formed in 1973, but that was disbanded in 1975 after it fell out with the ruler. A partially elected body was reinstated in the 2002 constitution, but power lies primarily with the executive, and the preponderance of Al-Khalifa in key positions means lines between state and ruling family are very blurred.

The Al-Khalifa family came to power in 1783, driving the Persian empire from the archipelago. The British empire, interested in maritime trade routes, entered into an alliance with the Al-Khalifa in 1820; only in 1971 did Bahrain declare independence. A new constitution provided for a fully elected parliament, which was formed in 1973 but disbanded in 1975 after it fell out with the ruler; after a period of repressive rule, a partially elected body was reinstated in the 2002 constitution. However, in a polity where the Sunni royal family rules over a majority Shiite population, power lies primarily with the executive; the preponderance of Al-Khalifa in key positions blurs lines between the state and ruling family. King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa succeeded his father in 1999 and declared himself king of a constitutional monarchy in 2002.

Confronted by multiple humanitarian and security crises, Yemen is on the verge of collapse and ‘failed state’ status (GSN’s political risk category F). The transition period after president Ali Abdullah Saleh relinquished power (after 33 years) in February 2012 never delivered on promises of democracy and stability. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi inherited a mess of competing and often violent factions, which he failed to harness: southern secessionists continue to resist Sanaa’s rule, jihadist groups are embedded around the country, old guard remnants refuse to relinquish power and the Houthi movement (northern Zaidis allied with a resurgent Saleh) captured Sanaa in September 2014.

Since the granting of universal suffrage in 2003, all adults are eligible to vote and women have the right to seek public office. But civil liberties remain constrained. Media freedoms are heavily restricted, there is limited news flow from the country and the government reserves the right to censor.

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 establish 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. In part founded as a reaction to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Iran-Iraq war, divisions and power imbalances within the council have led to the GCC being largely unproductive over the first three decades of its existence, despite high hopes and rhetoric.