Entrenched Neighbors: the Foreign Policy of Bahrain in a Turbulent Phase

Recognizing that the State’s foreign policy is the outcome of internal and external factors, the political events that took place in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2011, resulted in changing the orientation of the country’s foreign policy dramatically, especially if we consider the following factors. Firstly, the nature of those events were not transient, but in fact affected the national security of Bahrain, which consequently had regional ramifications for other GCC countries as well. Secondly, that the crisis was not between a popular movement and the regime, but came as a unilateral step from a sectarian group that wanted to impose their demands by force. Thirdly, the crisis was not purely internal, but had regional dimensions. Fourthly, some international powers took ambiguous positions and unclear stances to the crisis, which does not fit the strategic relations between Bahrain and those powers.