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Senior Gulf diplomats convened at the Dead Sea resort in Jordan in late January for two days of discussions about regional political issues. The meeting was hosted by Jordanian foreign affairs and expatriates minister Ayman Safadi.

A new briefing paper from the International Crisis Group asks: How is one to engage Damascus? France's recent experience offers useful lessons for an incoming US administration

There are just weeks to go before Oman is due to hold its first elections for municipal councils, trumpeted by the government as a step towards a more participatory politics. The government has just released its preliminary list of candidates, but it is still not clear when the vote will be, or how much power the councils will have.

The Omani Shura Council speaker, Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Essaei, is due to pay an official

The Houthi group grew from a Zaydi revivalist movement established in the mid-1990s by Hussein Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, known as Al-Shabab Al-Muminin (The Believing Youth). The Zaydi branch of Islam is named after Zayd Ibn Ali, grandson of Hussein Ibn Ali, the third Shiite imam. A Zaydi state was established in northern Yemen in 893 by one of his descendants, Yahya Ibn Hussein, who arrived in Sadah from Medina. The imamate persisted until 1962; the last imam, Al-Badr Muhammad Bin Ahmed Hamid Al-Din, died in London in 1996.

Over a month since the unilateral redeployment of Houthi forces from Hodeidah port began, hopes for de-escalation have all but vanished. Instead, the conflict has moved in a new direction. Following the Houthi drone strike on the oil pipeline west of Riyadh last month, the Ministry of Defence in Sanaa on 2 June threatened “painful and devastating strikes inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE; it described the strikes on oil facilities as the first phase of a new offensive.

Amid renewed tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, and with diminishing prospects for peace, the Houthi authorities may see new opportunities to extract more economic and military aid from their ally Iran following the killing of IRGC Quds Force commander General Qassim Soleimani. Tehran and the Houthis were drawing closer together even before the US drone strike which killed the Iranian military leader on 3 January.

King Abdullah left Saudi Arabia on 19 June for trips – including key talks with political leaders – to Morocco, Canada, the US and France. He travelled first to Casablanca – Morocco is a favourite of Saudi royals – and then to Toronto on 25 June to attend the G20 summit. He is being accompanied by a large delegation, said to number some 200.

The Supreme Court has given three former MPs 20-month suspended jail terms for publicly insulting Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, overturning a 2013 decision by the appeals court to acquit them. Falah Al-Sawwagh, Khaled Al-Tahous and Bader Al-Dahoum were arrested in October 2012 after a public rally at which they warned against a planned election law. The lower court sentenced them to three years in jail the following February (GSN 940/5), but the verdict was overturned by the appeals court a few months later. The Supreme Court’s 8 June ruling is final, however. According to AFP, the men were ordered to pay bail of KD2,000 ($7,000).

The state-owned Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has fired almost 300 oil workers for taking part in a week-long strike in March in support of pro-democracy demonstrators.

The Iranian succession process can be rather complex, particularly in the absence of a reigning rahbar (supreme leader) with the personal authority to nominate a successor. Upon a rahbar's death or removal, the deliberations and decisions lie solely

Rising tensions between the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and southern secessionists are distracting from the war against Houthis across northern Yemen. Analysts suggest that, if the conflict between the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the government continues, it may force the coalition to rely further on airstrikes to contain Houthi elements, increasing the cost of the war effort and risking further civilian casualties. Without further action, sources close to the Guards of the Republic tell GSN they fear the strategic port city of Hodeida may fall to the Houthis once again.

The much-anticipated Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’s report into human rights abuses in the country since February contained few major surprises, but acknowledged systematic abuses and presented an important opportunity for change.

Abu Dhabi was extremely annoyed when – despite intense last-minute lobbying by Emirati officials – the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution in October 2012 criticising human rights abuses in the UAE . As GSN reported at the time, the Emirati government was also determined that this should not happen again; as predicted, it has since been engaged in more pre-emptive lobbying, part of its bid to be seen as the Gulf’s foremost international player. Sources in Brussels tell GSN that the UAE embassy has become a lot more proactive in its relations with the European Union (EU) since October, with the main policy priority of trying to win visa-free entry to the Schengen Area for UAE nationals, both for tourism and business.

Outspoken younger generation businessman (and blogger) Sheikh Sultan Bin Saud Al-Qasimi has written an article in Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper, saying there should be no space for elitism in the Gulf