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Kuwait, like many Gulf states, has been grappling with how best to deal with sociAl networking sites such as Twitter, which have given wings to dissent that in the past would not have left the realms of private conversation.

Public demand for a constructive and non-ideological politics seems to explain the severe election setback suffered by the Salafists and Islamic Constitutional Movement (Hadas), whose parliamentary contingent - five or six strong just a few years ago - has been slashed from three seats to one.

Members of parliament (MPs) are to debate a series of requests to question three government ministers, including prime minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, during the next session of parliament on 1 May, in what could lead to another bout of political turmoil. The motion to question the prime minister – filed on 22 April – prompted speculation about an imminent dissolution of the National Assembly, although speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem tried to play down the prospects of fresh elections, telling the Kuwait Times that “from protocol meetings with the emir, I can see no dissolution of the assembly”.

Lawyer and human rights activist Waleed Abu Al-Khair, who was sentenced in July to 15 years in prison, has been forcibly moved to a prison almost 1,000km away from his family, according to rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW). HRW said on 16 August that Abu Al-Khair had been moved five times since his arrest in April. “Abu Al-Khair’s wife, Samar Badawi, told Human Rights Watch that… Abu Al-Khair said that officials at Jeddah’s Bureiman prison beat him on his back and dragged him from the prison with chains, injuring his feet, after he refused to co-operate in his transfer to another prison the previous day,” HRW said.

US military training to Gulf countries fell in 2015 after three straight years of growth. Analysts said this may offer a foretaste of what might be to come under the administration of President Donald Trump, which has vowed to cut Washington’s foreign aid bill – although military training has benefits, and proponents within the administration, which might mean it escapes any cuts.According to the Security Assistance Monitor (SAM), part of Washington-based think-tank the Center for International Policy, the US provided training to 4,136 Gulf military personnel in 2015, down from 4,748 the year before.

On 5 November, Saudi Arabia’s interior minister Prince Ahmed Bin Abdelaziz was removed and replaced by leading second-generation royal Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef (MBN), a move observers have described as potentially hugely significant; some suggest it puts MBN (at 53, a young minister, by Saudi standards) in line for the throne.

Little is known about the incoming president – the only name on Yemen’s 21 February ballot; analysts question whether a man most recognisable for his low profile can even hope to step clear of his predecessor’s shadow. GSN takes a look at the unlikely man now at the helm of a country in turmoil

In the days since the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar (GSN 965/1), Emir Sheikh Tamim has been taking calls from leaders in the region and beyond – among others, he has spoken to Oman’s Sultan Qaboos, France’s François Hollande, the UN’s Ban Ki-moon, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, Tunisia’s Mehdi Jomaa and Lebanon’s Michel Sleiman. Undeterred by its isolation within the GCC, on 15 March, Qatar sent assistant minister for foreign affairs Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Rumaihi to Tehran for “political consultations”.

Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad was in Riyadh on 1 May for a meeting with the new top team. Greeted at Riyadh Airbase by Riyadh governor Prince Faisal Bin Bandar, Salman went on to the Al-Yamamah Palace where he met Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. He was then seen off at the airport by minister of state Musaid Bin Mohammed Al-Aiban – the absence of an Al-Saud to see him and his delegation off is surprising, given that he is the heir to the throne of Bahrain.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani spent mid-February in South America. He and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani visited three countries, meeting Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Ecuadorian leader Rafael Correa, and signing agreements.

The Netherlands government is trying to soothe tensions with Saudi Arabia after it emerged that the kingdom was considering taking steps to limit Dutch trade because of an offensive sticker campaign mounted by far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders in December. The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed on 17 May that Riyadh was considering moves to exclude Dutch companies from Saudi projects, and changing visa requirements. The Dutch government says it has not had any formal notification of economic sanctions being put in place, but, according to Saudi media, the Council of Saudi Chambers recently said it had received an order banning Dutch firms from taking part in future projects in the kingdom, and reducing the number of visas given to Dutch nationals.

How quickly the most novel of announcements can become the new normal. The Saudi Press Agency reported on 9 December that, following a ten-year agreement between the General Sports Authority (GSA) and World Snooker, the kingdom would host “for the first time in its history, a world snooker championship”. Never shy of entering a lucrative new market, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn called the 4-10 October 2020 Saudi Masters championship “a giant leap forward for our sport… For the fans in Saudi Arabia it is a wonderful opportunity to see the best players in the world competing for a huge title.”

After another rocky year, Oman’s budget was rescued by the global rise in crude prices towards end-2017, which helped to bail out an economy where 70% of total revenues still come from oil and gas, during a period when debt has started to mount up. Omani crude achieved an average $56.21/bbl on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange in December, compared to a 2017 budget assumption of $45/bbl oil; the H2 17 crude price hike means the annual average will have been about $50/bbl.

Public relations industry media reported recently that the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) has retained British firm Bell Pottinger, which was one of several Western companies bidding to provide public relations services, following a tender made public last October. Bell Pottinger has worked extensively for the Bahrainis since 2009, on contracts thought to have been worth around $12m; its bid for the latest EDB contract was worth around $16.5m, though it is not clear what the agreed contract has been valued at. According to public relations website The Holmes Report, Bell Pottinger will be supported in Bahrain by Consulum, a firm launched in 2013 by former Bell Pottinger executives, some of whom have previously worked on the EDB brief.

The start of construction on the new Kuwaiti Mubarak Al-Kabir port near Iraq has reignited long-standing resentments over territory, security and the legacy of reparations from the Saddam era.