The Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America through the decades

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad’s path since he was Crown Prince of Bahrain and Commander in Chief of the Defense Forces has been distinguished by the deep-rooted alliance and relationship he had with various American Presidents spanning over four decades.

Bahraini author and intellectual Dr Nooh Khalifa examined the relationship between both nations though analyzing official documents dating back 40 years.

The documents researched focused on securing and protecting the region against Iranian threats, supporting regional and global peace in addition to combating international terrorism.

According to Dr Khalifa, His Majesty King Hamad – monarch and ruler of the Kingdom of Bahrain – has created the foundation for a deeper alliance through the various eras of different American Presidents since the time of President Ronald Reagan.

Dr Khalifa announced that he will publish a series of results and recommendations as part of his new scientific study titled “Bahrain and America: Developments of the Alliance in Security and Peace between the reigns of Ronald Reagan and Joe Biden”.

He added that the documents researched as part of the study have resulted in recommendations that will enhance the existing bilateral ties and strengthen the alliance to face US-GCC fears of traditional and modern Iranian threats – which he considered a crucial common denominator.

Dr Khalifa urged media outlets in Manama and Washington to support his research by allocating a fixed space for articles documenting the results of his development-oriented study which presents extensive political and security details about Bahrain and the United States as the most prominent and oldest regional alliances as well as a distinguished global relationship focused on security and peace.

He also called on American publishing houses to consider his research as one of the possible studies for translation and publishing in the United States.

“The study analyzes the mutual positions and initiatives between the King of Bahrain – since he was the Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces - and American Presidents as pillars that developed the alliance regarding regional security as well as global peace,” stated Dr Khalifa.

“The research includes an in-depth analysis of the dimensions of press coverage for the 2020 presidential elections and Iranian threats during the era of US President Joe Biden as the latest development in the history of relations.”

Dr Khalifa has researched 500 historical documents cataloging the development of the alliance between both nations as well as 200 recent press documents highlighting the 2020 presidential election period in addition to the first five months of President Biden’s term as a review of his policies for the region.

He added that he relied on a wide range of American, Arab and French references to support the research and strengthen the results of the analytical study which he expanded to an analysis of the portrayal of the United States of America in local Bahraini newspapers during the era of President Biden.

“This research is descriptive and it has relied on the survey and comparative approaches to analyze and compare press material published about the United States of America in three out of four Bahraini Arabic-speaking newspapers,” added Dr Khalifa.

 “The study aims to inspire new opportunities to continue developing strategic relations in light of the latest developments in American and Arab security concerns regarding the growing Iranian threats in the region.”

“The research highlights Bahrain and the United States as two nations that have witnessed a remarkable development in their strategic relations through mutual initiatives at a historical and current level that call for modern security meeting spaces.”

Dr Khalifa revealed that 86.8% of the media content in Bahrain was political content while 72.3% of the political content which was studied focused on presidential elections (36.7%) and the concern over the Iranian threat (35.6%).

“The developments of America’s policy towards Iranian threats since presidential elections commenced topped the priorities of newspapers that exerted efforts to review the limits of change in policies and their various repercussions on the future of relations,” added Dr Khalifa.

“Highlighting the efforts of the King of Bahrain since he was the Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces and the American Presidents contributes to enhancing the convergence of visions and perceptions of researchers, thinkers and politicians of Bahrain and the United States of America.”

“Addressing the dimensions of recent changes in US policies in the region during the era of President Joe Biden highlights solutions and aspirations to control the crises of the Iranian regime in the region.”

Dr Khalifa highlighted that the newspapers reviewed for the research instilled high levels of awareness of the local and international American changes which paved the way for a deeper Bahraini understanding and ability to continue finding opportunities for modern strategic convergence.

It is noteworthy to highlight that Dr Nooh Khalifa is an influential researcher in the Kingdom of Bahrain who has been in the intellectual field for 16 years with 25 scientific studies – characterized by their rarity and uniqueness - distinguishing his career as a researcher on the local and international scenes.

Dr Khalifa is a leader and thinker in the security field and he has been interested in studying Bahrain’s relationship with countries with which it has close military relations, the elements of strengths and weaknesses in Bahrain’s cities and villages, and the history of women’s struggles in the cities and villages of Bahrain.

Dr Khalifa’s name was associated with various scientific schools such as the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Ain Shams University in Cairo and University of Bahrain.

He was also professor of sociology of development and citizenship at University of Bahrain and the Royal Police Academy.

In his studies, Dr Khalifa combines the fields of change and development studies with media image studies which are influenced by his security and media expertise.

Dr Khalifa has a leading security rank in the media sector, was a former media official at the Ministry of Information Affairs and created a prominent media and intellectual presence in Morocco and Egypt where he was distinguished by obtaining two doctorate degrees – with the highest scientific accreditation – in leading scientific, social and political issues. 

He was also recognized in Jordan and Oman for his research and published work.