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Urgent US security warnings are a blow’s to Manama’s confidence, but there is some good news for the political class, with signs of progress from efforts to reconcile Bahrain’s ruling Al-Khalifas.

Sheikh Hamad has set a date to implement the new constitution, one year hence, but has yet to set an election date. While democracy breaks out in the Gulf’s boom economy the constitution also reinforces Al-Thani rule.

There is no hiding from the Jihadist onslaught, but with many reform policies bogged down, it will be political momentum not military muscle that decides if Al-Qaeda’s challenge to Al-Saud rule has any substance

Hardliners flexed their muscles when Republican Guards stormed Tehran’s new international airport, but more pragmatic conservative factions are looking to take Iran in a less confrontational direction. Divisions in the conservative camp are again the biggest factor in Iran’s domestic politics.

The political outlook for Saudi Arabia is ever more cloudy. Terrorist violence, contradictory signals from a divided leadership and some gritty geopolitical problems combine to make a grim outlook for the Kingdom.

With less than 70 days to go until sovereignty formally passes to an Iraqi interim government, the US-led Coalition is trying to untangle a confusing mesh of political, military and economic issues, increasingly dependent on the UN for success. Drawing on extensive access in Washington, the Coalition Provisional Authority and UN, GSN lays out the timelines that will underpin the transition to Iraqi self-rule.

Qatari notables are lining up to sit in the new parliament, after elections, probably to be held in 2005. As civil society gains momentum, can this tiny emirate provide a model for locally-inspired political development?

Saudi Arabia remains one of the least likely countries to develop nuclear weapons but that does not mean Riyadh will sit quietly while Iran moves to become Gulf’s first nuclear-armed state.

Reformists petitioning for change may take heart: municipal elections could take place sooner than expected. Saudi reformists believe the Al- Sauds will cede them the initiative in the face of conservative opposition, but an elected national assembly will take longer to emerge, and new arrests suggest liberal reformists remain vulnerable to reaction.

With a conservative majority in place and its experiment in political pluralism in apparent tatters, Iran faces tough questions about its future course. It is unsure even if conservative factions can agree.

Recognising the challenges posed by Dubais role as an international hub and Qatars open-door policy, the US and European governments have stepped up their collaboration over security issues, not...

As Iraqs Kurds seek their way in an upcoming sovereign government, violence in northern Iraq could throw their efforts off course. Inside, GSN speaks with the PUKs Barham Salih about the Kurdish...

The struggle for inuence between Saudi modernisation campaigners and conservatives in the religious establishment and royal family is putting heavy pressure on Crown Prince Abdallah. All sides are...

Iraqi politics will continue to preoccupy Western politicians and the Gulf media, but unfolding ideological and personal conicts in Saudi Arabia could well provide the dening issue of 2004.

By promoting his favourite wifes sons, Sheikh Zayed has moved to clarify the long-term succession line in Abu Dhabi, in the process shaping the future direction of UAE politics.