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With 24-hour news coverage following every move, the authorities have come under intense pressure to calm the situation on the streets. GSN examines the timeline of recent unrest

The overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his kleptocratic family has shaken other authoritarian rulers and revived the ‘Arab street’. Across the Arab world populations are stirring, while governments may struggle to accommodate local variants of the ‘Tunisia effect’

As well as being an economic linchpin for the global and US economy, Qatar is also one of Washington’s trickiest regional partners, with internal politics and neighbouring Iran making this a less than straightforward relationship

Foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal proposed a Nato-backed Arab army to destroy the Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement in Lebanon in 2008. Documents released by WikiLeaks suggest that certain military operations against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, claimed by Sanaa to be the work of Yemeni forces, were carried out by the US.

Governments seek Atacms deals, US in $71m Javelin missile sale

UK troops set to leave in 2011, Car bomb kills northern rebels

The confusion of a post-Saddam Iraq has presented Iran with countless opportunities to extend its tentacles of influence. GSN outlines the Islamic Republic’s strategy for keeping its rival at bay

The US Defence Department was ordered to draw up detailed contingency plans for launching military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Attacks on Christians in Iraq have increased in recent weeks. Defence secretary Robert Gates has announced that the US will boost support to Yemen following October’s foiled bomb plot

A new report from the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) charts the emergence of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al-Shabab, their potential convergence, and the involvement of ‘foreigners’ in both organisations. The report, Yemen and Somalia:

The hand of Tehran – and its formidable IRGC – reaches far into the Gulf states, throwing up questions of allegiance and fears of a US or Israeli-orchestrated military strike. Each state has a different experience, and the region is divided over how to deal with subversive activities within and across its borders

There has been a severe decline in tourism, the Yemen Times reported on 3 October. A recent study by Yousef Saeed Ahmed, associate professor at University of Aden’s economics faculty, showed the sector has lost some $10bn in the past decade because of terrorism and poor infrastructure.

The Ministry of Oil (MoO) in Baghdad has accused provincial officials and local police of raiding an oilfield being developed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The more methodical and thoughtful approach that Sunni insurgents are taking in their campaigns to undermine the government in Baghdad has led many to speculate about the role of former Baathists in

Following the failed attempt of a Nigerian engineering student Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab to blow up Northwest Airlines’ Flight 253 over the United States last December, Yemen received unprecedented global attention. The media focus has dropped somewhat since then, but the region remains the subject of considerable concern

GSN wrote about the beginnings of “the next insurgency” in Iraq in April 2009, describing meetings between Iraqi Sunni leaders and Baathist insurgents, which were characterised as a “long-term hedging of bets” by both parties ahead of the US drawdown and the assumption of full control by the Shia-led government in Baghdad. Sources within the US and Iraqi government intelligence systems believe this next insurgency is starting to unfold.