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Established in 1971, the federation of the seven emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al- Quwain is a liberal and progressive state as far as the economy goes, but remains politically conservative. The federal government has legislative and executive jurisdiction over areas including foreign affairs, security and defence, air traffic control, education, public health, currency, electricity and immigration. Each emirate retains considerable economic independence and control over mineral rights and revenues. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi has been dominant, and its ruler, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, is president of the federation. Each emirate’s ruler sits on the Supreme Council, the highest executive and legislative authority. The Council of Ministers makes most federal decisions, while the Federal National Council (FNC) acts as an advisory council. FNC elections were held in October.

Politics: Kuwait has been governed by the Al-Sabah family since the 18th century. It gained independence from Britain in 1961; a new constitution written that year confirmed the hereditary monarchy, but gave significant powers to an independent judiciary and an elected assembly. The emir – Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah since 2006 – retains final say. Parties are banned, but associations and factions are active, creating opposition blocs in the 50-member Majlis Al-Umma (National Assembly) and the Gulf’s most participatory politics. The downside of this experiment in partial democracy has been constant friction between the elected parliament and appointed government, which has often resulted in paralysis of the state.

Iraq has felt some of the revolutionary zeal that has taken hold in the Arab world, with hundreds of people protesting against corruption and high unemployment. Some have died and some injured in clashes with police.

In 2009, massive protests about alleged vote rigging in a presidential election that saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted a brutal crackdown on reformists; two reformist leaders,Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, have been under house arrest since 2011. The June 2013 election of cleric Hassan Rouhani, who is seen as more moderate than Ahmadinejad, has raised hopes that some degree of political freedom may return.

In a series of decrees on 14 May, King Abdullah made a number of changes at the defence ministry, apparently at the request of Crown Prince Salman. He removed Salman Bin Sultan as deputy minister of defence and replaced him with Khalid Bin Bandar, the Riyadh governor.While there had been rumours for some time that Salman Bin Sultan would go, the timing of the announcement was unexpected, coming just after the close of a major regional defence conference attended by US defence secretary Chuck Hagel.

A move towards elections was promised mid-decade, but a change in the ruling families’ social compact with their populations to promote ‘democracy’ has not been forthcoming. Sheikh Khalifa’s 2010 National Day address on 2 December was notable for its lack of any pledge to introduce more accountable elections to the ‘consultative’ FNC.

POLITICS: Kuwait has been governed by the Al-Sabah family since the 18th century. It gained independence from Britain in 1961; a new constitution written that year confirmed the hereditary monarchy, but gave significant powers to an independent judiciary and an elected assembly. The emir – currently Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah – retains final say and political parties are banned. But the 50-member assembly has proven more vibrant than expected, and Kuwait has often been held up as a beacon for democratisation in the region. Friction between the elected parliament and the appointed government has been an ongoing problem, however, often resulting in paralysis of the state. Parliament has twice been shut down – from 1976 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1992 – and there have been three general elections since February 2012.

On 16 November, opposition-led demonstrators stormed the parliamentary building, calling for prime minister Nasser Mohammed Al- Ahmed Al-Sabah to resign. Their anger was directed at the recent corruption and bribery scandals that have rocked the government, and an October constitutional ruling preventing the opposition from grilling the prime minister over the illegal money transfers.

Although Syria is a bastion of Levantine culture, its portrayal in the media is often dominated by its politics. The West mistrusts its relationship with Iran and organisations such as Lebanon’s Hizbollah. Years of meddling in Lebanese affairs have strained relations, although efforts at reconciliation have been made, with Syria naming its first ambassador to Lebanon in 2009.

Yemen is in a very fragile state. After 33 years of rule, president Ali Abdullah Saleh let go of power in February 2012, and the nation entered a two-year transitional period intended to steer it towards democracy and stability. His successor,Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has inherited a nation beset by violence and competing factions. A smouldering insurgency in the north, secessionism in the south, a powerful jihadist movement and remnants of the old guard are all high on the agenda.

Despite a wave of protests and calls for reform throughout the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Qatar has so far remained unaffected. There have been no protests, and the Qatari government has not followed other GCC countries in announcing measures to address domestic issues.

Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema Bint Bandar has been nominated to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s executive board. The appointment was publicised by lobbyists LS2 Group, in line with Reema’s rising profile, established with a flattering profile on the Politico website last October. That was her first major media appearance since taking up a job defined by her father, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdelaziz, in February 2019. She is the royal family’s most prominent female member.

A plane belonging to General Khalifa Haftar made a brief visit to Abu Dhabi on 11 May, departing after just one hour on the ground at Al-Bateen Executive Airport, as noted by Israeli daily Haaretz editor Avi Scharf. There was no mention of his visit by the UAE official news agency and it is not clear who was on the plane or who they met.

Qatar’s late August mediation of a fresh truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza has reinforced Doha’s continued influence in Palestine – without the media fanfare surrounding the diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and the UAE.

GSN understands that UK-based Xcalibur Aerospace – a drone company, which is part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – tried to raise $500m in a fund-raising effort focused on the US west coast earlier this year. However, it is believed the effort came to an end without any funds being raised, as investors were unpersuaded about what was on offer.