Gulf States - Houses of Cards

All six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council are monarchies. Each has some form of consultation with their subjects, but in each case the public has no input into the selection of the monarch, and not much input into the government's policies. All but Bahrain have largely avoided the Arab Spring. Three of these states, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait, were led by elderly rulers and faced rather precarious successions in the near future. The other three states, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, are led by much younger rulers, and had the succession process well in hand.

Saudi Arabia King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud born: 1935?	Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [MbS] born: 1985
United Arab Emirates Amir of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan born: 1961	NONE
Qatar Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani born: 1980	NONE
Kuwait Amir Shaykh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al Sabah born: 1937	Crown Prince Meshaal Al Ahmad Al Sabah born: 1940
Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tariq bin Taymur Al Said born: 1954	NONE
Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa born: 1950	Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa born: 1969