''Britain and Bahrain: mutual interests and the politics of protection''

From New Left Project

"For over a year protesters in Bahrain have demonstrated for democratic reforms, in the face of often brutal repression by the regime. British arms transfers to Bahrain continued throughout that period. This should not surprise. For nearly two centuries, Britain has been the guarantor of Bahrain’s ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty, and for much of the past century its security backbone. Time and again, British support has enabled the Al-Khalifa regime to withstand local agitation for greater political freedoms and human rights. Britain’s protectorate relations with Bahrain may have formally ended on 15 August 1971, but they live on through informal channels and personal relationships in the royal, military, and commercial spheres.  These have facilitated the upholding of authoritarian misrule, and they expose the hypocrisy at the heart of British policy in the wake of the Arab Spring.''

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