Kingdom Of Bahrain Essay

Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in August of 19711

has become an active member of the international community. In September of that year

Bahrain joined the Arab League2

humanitarian concerns as well as popular uprisings in the late 1990s4

in the form of the National Action Charter of Bahrain. In the Charter, King Hamad bin Isa al

Khalifa established the Kingdom of Bahrain as a constitutional monarchy with a democratically

elected legislature, gave women the right to vote, made an independent judiciary body and

released political prisoners. These reforms gave Bahrain the highest rank in the Arab world on

the UNDP Human Development Report in 20015

Bahrain’s foreign policy focuses on Bahrain’s sovereignty and independence6

some tension with Iran who historically considered Bahrain a province7

the Palestinian Cause: to establish an independent Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as its capitol.

This causes tension with Israel, who Bahrain blames for deteriorating Palestinian lands and

aggressive practices8

United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, and State

of Kuwait created the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). The GCC

focuses on coordination, interconnection, and strengthening relations between member states9

2002, Bahrain was designated as a Major Non-NATO ally to the U.S. and in 2006 the U.S. and

Bahrain established a Free Trade Agreement10

its neighbors and the international community at large.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in International Airspace

As a close ally of the U.S., Bahrain sees the use of drones as a useful means of combatting

terrorism. However, as a close ally of Pakistan, Bahrain understands the need fo...

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...aw (such

as the use of chemical weapons on civilians) are made, Bahrain Foreign Minister advises,

“unwelcome foreign intervention polarizes people into extreme positions”11

or resources to the rebels or government of a domestic disturbance only fuels the conflict.

Sending in troops as a more direct solution would prove even more destructive, as the voice of

the opposition would be wrongly crushed.

At most the UN should encourage governments to be responsible and reform to the wishes

of the people, as in Bahrain. If not, the fall of the regime is natural and should not be slowed

of sped up by foreign intervention. UN intervention is only warranted by the disturbance

developing to threaten international security in the form of nuclear weapons or violation of

international law.

. More recently, the Arab Spring inspired uprisings in Bahrain and again