Bahrain

**Bahrain**, officially the **Kingdom of Bahrain**, was a Arab island country in the Middle East. Bahrain had no land borders, but shared close maritime borders with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It also had bridge connections to those countries. Bahrain was annexed by the United Islamic Republic in 2025 during the Third Persian Gulf War.

## History

### Post-Independence

On 15 August 1971, Bahrain declared independence and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year. The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly, although the subsequent downturn hurt the economy. The country had already begun diversification of its economy and benefited further from the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.

Following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1981 Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organisation, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shī'a cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government. In December 1994, a group of youths threw stones at female runners during an international marathon for running bare-legged. The resulting clash with police soon grew into civil unrest.

A popular uprising occurred between 1994 and 2000 in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces. The event resulted in approximately forty deaths and ended after Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999. He instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote, and released all political prisoners. A referendum on 14–15 February 2001 massively supported the National Action Charter. As part of the adoption of the National Action Charter on 14 February 2002, Bahrain changed its formal name from the State (dawla) of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Protesters gathered at the Pearl Roundabout for the first time on 15 February 2011.
The country participated in military action against the Taliban in October 2001 by deploying a frigate in the Arabian Sea for rescue and humanitarian operations. As a result, in November of that year, U.S. president George W. Bush's administration designated Bahrain as a "major non-NATO ally". Bahrain opposed the invasion of Iraq and had offered Saddam Hussein asylum in the days prior to the invasion. Relations improved with neighbouring Qatar after the border dispute over the Hawar Islands was resolved by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2001. Following the political liberalisation of the country, Bahrain negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States in 2004.

### Arab Spring

Inspired by the regional Arab Spring, Bahrain's Shia majority started large protests against its Sunni rulers in early 2011. The government initially allowed protests following a pre-dawn raid on protesters camped in Pearl Roundabout. A month later it requested security assistance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries and declared a three-month state of emergency. The government then launched a crackdown on the opposition that included conducting thousands of arrests and systematic torture. Almost daily clashes between protesters and security forces led to dozens of deaths. Protests, sometimes staged by opposition parties, are ongoing. More than 80 civilians and 13 policemen were killed as of March 2014. The lack of coverage by Arab media in the Persian Gulf, as compared to other Arab Spring uprisings, has sparked several controversies.

### Involvement in Regional Conflicts

*See Full Articles: Yemeni Civil War, War against ISIS and Saudi Civil War*

In March 2015, with the outbreak of the Yemeni Civil War, Bahrain joined the Gulf Cooperation Council in an aerial intervention in Yemen. Oman was the only GCC member to not become involved, and instead focused on a diplomatic solution. In June, the GCC states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain deployed troops to invade Houthi territory in northern Yemen. In August the GCC force reached Sana'a, which fell on September 3.

Bahrain participated in the War against ISIS by deploying F-16s as part of the aerial campaign in Syria. Bahrain also supported the NATO invasion of Syria to defeat the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front.

During the Saudi Civil War, Bahrain offered limited support the the Saudi royalists, concerned that they may lose the war. The United States launched many of its operations in Saudi Arabia from Bahrain. Many refugees fleeing the war, crossed the King Fahd Causeway, which Bahrain later closed in order to stem the tide of refugees fleeing the eastern provinces.

### Third Persian Gulf War

*See Full Article: Third Persian Gulf War*

In August 2025, forces from the United Islamic Republic crossed the border into Kuwait, sparking the Third Persian Gulf War. Following the brutal capture of Kuwait City and the annexation of Kuwait, Bahrain moved quickly to avoid falling to a similar fate. Bahrain requested that the UIR annex the country, which the UIR agreed to, ending the independence of Bahrain.

## Government and Politics

Bahrain under the Al-Khalifa regime claimed to be a constitutional monarchy headed by the King. However, given its dictatorial oppression, lack of parliamentary power and lack of an independent judiciary, most observers asserted that Bahrain was an absolute monarchy. The King enjoyed wide executive authorities which included appointing the Prime Minister and his ministers, commanding the army, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the parliament's upper half and dissolving its elected lower half. The head of government was the unelected Prime Minister.

Bahrain had a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Shura Council with 40 seats and the Council of Representatives with 40 seats. The 40 members of the Shura were appointed by the king. In the Council of Representatives, 40 members were elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms. The appointed council exercised a de facto veto over the elected, because draft acts had to be approved so they may pass into law.

### Foreign Relations

Bahrain played a modest, moderating role in regional politics and adhered to the views of the Arab League on Middle East peace and Palestinian rights by supporting the two state solution. Bahrain is also one of the founding members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Relations with Iran tend to be tense as a result of a failed coup in 1981 which Bahrain blames Iran for and occasional claims of Iranian sovereignty over Bahrain by ultra-conservative elements in the Iranian public.

### Administrative Regions

Bahrain was divided into 4 governorates; Central, Muharraq, Northern, Southern.

## Military

The kingdom had a small but well equipped military called the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), numbering around 13,000 personnel. The supreme commander of the Bahraini military was the King and the deputy supreme commander was the Crown Prince. The BDF was primarily equipped with United States equipment, such as the General Dynamics F-16 Falcon, Northrop F-5, UH60 Blackhawk, M60A3 tanks, and the ex-USS Jack Williams, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate renamed the RBNS Sabha.

## Economy

Economic conditions in Bahrain fluctuated with the changing price of oil since 1985, for example during and following the Gulf War (1990-91). With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain was home to a number of multinational firms and construction proceeds on several major industrial projects. A large share of exports consisted of petroleum products made from imported crude oil, which accounted for 51% of the country's imports in 2007. Bahrain depended heavily on food imports to feed its growing population; it relied heavily on meat imports from Australia and also imported 75% of its total fruit consumption needs. Since only 2.9% of the country's land is arable, agriculture contributed to 0.5% of Bahrain's GDP. In 2004, Bahrain signed the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, which reduced certain trade barriers between the two nations.