SUMMARY
[Note to reader: this Country page primarily contains brief information about state-based violence during the period 1946-1974, and to some extent 1975-1988. For more detailed information on organized violence after 1989, please consult the specific Conflict and Dyad pages available on the left-hand side of this page. These pages contain more detailed information (when applicable) regarding all three categories of organized violence in this country from 1989 and onwards, as well as detailed information about state-based violence 1975-1988. The left-hand side menu also contains links to Actor pages for all groups involved in organized violence since 1989 in this country, as well as actors involved in state-based violence 1975-1988.]
The Kingdom of Bahrain can trace its roots to the Sunni Al-Khalifa family that captured it in 1783 from the Persians and founded the new state of Bahrain. Since then the Al-Khalifa family, who are members of the Bani Utbah tribe, have ruled the country. During the 19th century, for security and protection, Bahrain signed a series of treaties with the United Kingdom, then the dominant power in the Persian Gulf. These treaties effectively made Bahrain a British Protectorate. In exchange for military protection and support for the rule of the Al-Khalifa family, Bahrain was not allowed to dispose of its territory to any other entity except the United Kingdom and was not allowed to enter into agreements with foreign governments without British consent.
The British became concerned about the political stability of Bahrain in the 1920s and eventually decided on assigning a permanent British administrator to Shaikh Hamad, then ruler of the island state. Charles Belgrave was subsequently appointed Chief Administrator to the ruler of Bahrain. He virtually became the countrys de facto ruler and held this position from 1926 until 1957 when public opinion in Bahrain had turned against the British, resulting in general strikes and riots.
With the decline of the British Empire during the Cold War, the United Kingdom decided in 1968 to withdraw from the Persian Gulf. The British subsequently left Bahrain in 1971 and the country regained its full independence. After the British left in 1971, the United States signed an agreement with the Bahraini government to establish a naval base in the former Royal Navy base at Juffair near the capital Manama. Since 1995, this base is home to the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet and therefore of considerable strategic importance to the United States. The ties between Iran and Bahrain’s Shiite community, along with the former’s displeasure with the American presence in Bahrain, have resulted in a strained relationship between Bahrain and Iran.
Bahrain was one of the first Gulf States to discover and refine oil in the 1930s, thus gaining significant wealth before most of its neighbors. Today, however, Bahrain is less dependent on its limited oil supply and instead has become a banking and financial services center.
The King and his ruling Sunni Al-Khalifah family hold the main political and military positions, a fact that has contributed to long-running tensions between the smaller Sunni Muslim group and the Shia Muslim majority. These tensions have occasionally led to civil unrest as the Shia community demanded that the Sunni-led government cease systematic economic, social and political discrimination against Shia Bahrainis. In the 1990s, Shia activists staged a low-intensity uprising against the government. In 1999, the new King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa pushed for political and economic reforms to improve the relationship with the Shia community. The Shia participated in and won many seats in the elections that were held in 2006 and 2010 for the lower-house in the legislature.
By early 2011, the events of the Arab Spring in Northern Africa and in the Middle East, coupled with the discontent among the Shia community, had inspired the population to partake in large demonstrations and the resignation of a number of Shia legislators. The Government responded with lethal force against the non-violent demonstrators, leading to many injuries and fatalities. Concerned about the political situation, the Sunni government declared a state of emergency in March and authorized the military to take any measures needed to “protect the safety of the country and its citizens”. Violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces continued during the spring and tensions were still high in early 2012.
Following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Bahrain provided troops to the US-led coalition “Operation Desert Storm” and thus became a secondary warring party to Kuwait in the interstate conflict against Iraq.
Since 1946 Bahrain has experienced the one-sided category of UCDP organized violence.
