Bahrain and US Strategic Security Agreement Drives Partnership, Growth

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Email: editor@newsofbahrain.com

One year ago, on September 13, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA) in Washington. Concluding this strategic security agreement brought our bilateral relationship to an entirely new level and is just the latest manifestation of the productive partnership between our two governments and countries.

We celebrate this first anniversary amid stronger ties and closer coordination on the issues of greatest importance. The heart of this strategic security agreement is the commitment to strengthen our advanced partnership in the fields of defense and security, including to work together in the event of external attack or the threat of external attack on either country.

This pledge makes C-SIPA the most advanced formal security agreement the United States has with any country in the region.

Defense, Commercial, Technology

Pillars But defense and security represent just the first pillar of the agreement. C-SIPA is unique for its emphasis on bolstering trade and investment relations through coordination on economic and commercial matters, and enhancing cooperation on science, technology, and trusted networks.

It recognizes that military strength and deterrence protect and establish the conditions for growth, but long-term stability comes from meeting people’s economic and professional aspirations.

C-SIPA therefore promotes the responsible use of emerging technologies, network security, and advanced research and development to improve lives and create high-value jobs.

As Secretary Blinken said at the C-SIPA signing, we are “working together to build a region that is more secure, that’s more prosperous, and that’s more connected to the world economy.”

Together with our Bahraini partners, we are putting C-SIPA into practice through government-to-government collaboration, private sector engagement, and educational and technical exchanges.

In July, we convened in Washington, D.C. the first Defense Working Group meeting under the C-SIPA framework.

That session was highly productive and helped us advance defense interoperability and address key regional security issues.

His Excellency Minister of Industry and Commerce Abdulla Adel Fakhro’s June visit to Washington identified practical means to promote our trade and investment relationship, which owes so much to the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, signed 20 years ago in 2004.

Through the fourth annual US-Bahrain Strategic Dialogue, our two governments advanced projects and programs in areas like cybersecurity, alternative energy, environment, tourism, education, and cultural preservation, among others.

Progress Through Shared Understanding, Values

C-SIPA could only be signed, and its goals realized, because Bahrain and the United States have a common vision for a more stable, secure, and prosperous region requiring collective determination and open dialogue.

Despite the differences in our two countries, the success of C-SIPA and the US-Bahrain partnership can be attributed to three key factors: strong values, courageous decision-making, and effective problem-solving. Secretary Blinken has said, “At our best, the United States is a country with integrity and a heart,” and that is something I see in Bahrain as well.

Under His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s leadership, Bahrain has consistently promoted a message of peace, tolerance, and coexistence.

This has been reflected in any number of Bahrain’s policies and initiatives, including in the Arab Summit’s Bahrain Declaration.

The United States and Bahrain share a common understanding of the values that drive our policies and our characters.

The United States stands with its partners and allies to uphold international norms that protect sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom of navigation, and trade. Promoting and protecting the international rules-based order, and the global prosperity that has come as a result, is the foundational element of many of our joint activities.

We recognize that under His Majesty’s leadership, Bahrain has taken brave decisions to reinforce global norms, which benefit us all.

The United States does not take Bahrain’s courage for granted; we respect, welcome, and support the Kingdom’s activities that further peace, stability, and prosperity. We cannot achieve our policy aspirations without pragmatic action.

Practical application of these values

While high ideals point the direction, it is through the practical application of these values that our two countries can make progress on addressing challenges.

We work together to address conflict and instability in the region and beyond, sharing ideas on the way forward and then devoting time, energy, people, and funding to make improvements.

These three elements – strong values, courageous decision-making, practical problem-solving – underpin C-SIPA and, more broadly, our bilateral relations.

The stronger the ties between us, the more confident we can be working in close collaboration on the opportunities and challenges of the day. As His Royal Highness said at the signing, it’s about the ability to “go where one wants to go, to live how one wants to live, and to build a future for one’s children that is hopefully brighter than the one that they lived.”

Through my experience working in partnership with the Bahraini government and people, I have great confidence and optimism in the power of our relationship, and our ability to use our new strategic security agreement to have a meaningful, beneficial impact on our countries and the world.