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Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa held talks with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Hamad’s French trip followed visits to Paris by UAE's MBZ and Saudi Arabia's MBS.

Bahrain is to host the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis and Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb at the 3-4 November  Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence. It will be the centrepiece of a four-day visit by the pope.

Azerbaijan has closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated staff and their families, following a gun attack on the diplomatic mission late January in which one security guard  was killed and two others wounded. Azerbaijan complained local security personnel had done nothing to defend the embassy.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani travelled to Berlin in January for an official visit – his first to Europe since taking office in October. Energy and security issues dominated the agenda, with discussions about potential Iraqi gas supplies to Germany and the ongoing work by Siemens Energy to rehabilitate Iraq’s electricity sector, following a deal with the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity in 2019.

Fawzia Abdullah Zainal was named as Bahrain's ambassador to Egypt late December, via a decree issued by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa. He takes over from Hisham Bin Mohammed Al-Jowder, who had been appointed in 2020.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) voted to remove Iran from the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women on 14 December, in a move pushed by the United States in the wake of the harsh crackdown on protesters across the Islamic Republic.

Bahraini and UAE diplomats in Laayoune (also written El Aioun) took part in the 47th anniversary of the late King Hassan II’s Green March, held by Morocco in early November to commemorate its takeover of the disputed territory of Western Sahara following the withdrawal of colonial Spain in 1975.

Recently-appointed Royal Court advisor Ahmed Bin Abdelaziz Qattan visited the north-west African Sahel region on 21-22 February to meet senior officials in Niger and Chad. GSN examines the issues that are likely to have been discussed during Qattan’s trip and provides a brief profile of the Royal Court advisor.

After nearly a year of post-Qatar boycott rapprochement, Gulf Co-operation Council leaders stressed their unity at the 42nd GCC summit in Riyadh. The 14 December summit was marked by Saudi Arabia’s efforts to put more focus on the perceived threats from Iran.

The United Kingdom government plans to improve existing defence facilities in Oman and boost trade and investment with the Gulf counties as part of a wide-ranging appraisal of it’s international strategy published in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy on 16 March. Introducing the strategy document in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it described how the UK will “relearn the art of competing against states with opposing values” and be “more dynamic abroad” following its ‘Brexit’ departure from the European Union.

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.

Iran has recalled its ambassador to Sweden, after a Swedish court sentenced former Iranian prosecutor Hamid Nouri to life in prison for the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at Gohardasht prison in the late 1980s.

A day after Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) embarked on his tour of fellow Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) member states – starting with Oman where he met Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said on 6 December – there was an inconvenient reminder of how hard it is to venture any further afield and how past decisions continue to constrain the Saudi strongman.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) hosted a meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (TBZ) at an un-named resort on the Red Sea thought to be Neom. To the delight of a huge social media audience, MBS’ private office head Bader Al-Asakera on 17 September released a photo of the three casually-dressed and smiling men on Twitter.

Washington and Doha have finalised an arrangement under which Qatar will represent US interests in Afghanistan. Under the move, announced on 12 November during the fourth US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue, held in Washington DC, Qatar will set up a US interests section in its Kabul embassy to provide consular services and monitor the security of US diplomatic facilities.