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A year after the risk of a catastrophic accident at the abandoned oil storage vessel FSO Safer was finally resolved – after long periods during which Houthi rebels repeatedly blocked an international rescue mission – the Sanaa-based group’s actions are once again creating the risk of an environmental disaster is the waters around Yemen.  

The EU has offered support to the latest Saudi effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, promising to hold a summit in Brussels later this month for the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. At the first EU-GCC summit, held in mid-October, the Europeans also agreed to revive discussions on a trade deal, some 16 years after talks were suspended due to differences over human rights.

Kuwait’s political, social and economic landscape has been irrevocably changed by the pandemic and the death of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in September 2020. These events have deepened and widened the struggles within a political and economic system already characterised by paralysis and stagnation. The medium-term outlook looks grim, with a political leadership seemingly unable or unwilling to make the tough policy decisions needed to create a more stable course.

Mixed outlook but oil buoys economy: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said economic growth was likely to slow down in 2023, after growing by more than 8% in 2022, thanks to higher than expected oil prices.  

A Houthi drone attack on Abu Dhabi as GSN went to press exposed the UAE’s vulnerabilities and offered a further incentive for GCC countries to expand their domestic defence industries and their range of overseas suppliers. Billions of dollars are being spent in a region that is confronted by a range of risks, from a Yemen conflict that has become a major humanitarian disaster to Iran, with its projection of force in the ‘near abroad’ and nuclear ambitions.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has left Kuwait on another trip to Germany for medical reasons. His 29 September departure came just ten weeks after the emir returned from his last visit there.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani has had a busy diplomatic schedule since taking office on 27 October, with trips to Jordan on 21 November for talks with King Abdullah II, followed by a visit to Kuwait on 23 November to meet his counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. There has been speculation he may soon travel to Saudi Arabia too.

Saudi Aramco underlined the kingdom's deepening relationships with China when the national champion announced the acquisition of a 10% stake in Rongsheng Petrochemical Company.

Faisal Bin Saud Al-Mujfel has been named as Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Damascus as formal diplomatic ties are slowly restored, but wider relations with GCC countries continue to be undermined by the flow of illegal drugs to the Gulf from regime-held areas in Syria.

General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ), the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the armed forces, has already taken on day-to-day presidential duties, as the health of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan deteriorates. It has long been assumed that the presidency will be his on his half-brother’s death. The first president of the UAE, MBZ’s father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, made clear his intentions when he named MBZ deputy crown prince in 2003; when Sheikh Zayed died the following year, Sheikh Khalifa became ruler of Abu Dhabi and MBZ his heir.

The 9.6m t/yr liquefied natural gas project was originally due to be developed in Fujairah, but was moved to Abu Dhabi emirate in early 2023. Once complete in 2029, it will more than double the UAE’s LNG production capacity to 15.6m t/yr.

The authorities are keen for more Emiratis to have children – and have created a new ministry to encourage more locals to get married, while a revamped Ministry of Community Empowerment is focused on supporting low-income families.

President Mohammed Bin Zayed and other senior political and military figures were on hand to witness the first 88 students graduate with a BSc in defence and security at the university’s campus in Abu Dhabi.

Ruling family member Sheikh Saoud Salem Al-Sabah has been appointed managing director of Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, after Ghanem Al-Ghunaiman was unexpectedly replaced.

Sheikh Mubarak Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was appointed by emiri decree on 13 November, some three months after the previous post-holder, Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabeh, died. He is only the second person to take charge of the force since it was established in the 1960s.