What Actually Happened
Despite continuing tension between government forces and opposition in Bahrain, the United States has largely maintained close relations with Bahrain and has put limited pressure on the government toward reform. The Obama administration continued to criticize Bahrain’s repressive measures and called for restraint and dialogue between the government and opposition groups. However, it stopped short of measures that would put strong pressure on the government.
In the following years, the United States and Bahrain continued to fortify their military and economic relationship. The Donald Trump administration de-emphasized human rights issues in Bahrain as part of a broad strategy to fight extremism and counter Iranian influence in the Middle East. Following the discovery of a large oil and gas reserve in April 2018, Bahrain approached major oil companies for contracts to develop oil fields. Bahrain expressed a preference for U.S. companies due to the strength of existing U.S.-Bahrain ties. Upon taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden once again emphasized the importance of democracy and human rights to his administration’s foreign policy. However, Biden has continued to pursue and even deepen security cooperation with Persian Gulf states.
As a result of its continued cooperation with Bahrain, the United States has received considerable support from the country on several strategic and diplomatic objectives. These have included conducting counterterrorism operations, managing ongoing tensions with Iran in the Persian Gulf, and easing Arab-Israeli tensions.
Still, ongoing tension between the government and the opposition continues to bring U.S. interests into conflict with U.S. values. Repression and violence in Bahrain have intensified, including the arrest and jailing of activists, extrajudicial killings, and revocations of citizenship. The United Nations, along with human rights groups, has heavily criticized the country’s practices and called for Bahrain to observe international human rights laws. So far, international pressure on Bahrain to improve its treatment of citizens has been limited, and the country has faced few consequences for its continued violation of human rights.
The United States has faced sharp criticism over its leniency toward Bahrain’s leaders despite the country’s continued lack of progress toward meaningful reform. Human rights groups, Bahraini opposition members, and U.S. lawmakers have all made frequent calls for the White House to push more forcefully for Human Rights in Bahrain. Some critics have also argued that the U.S. government’s handling of the situation has been counterproductive. Worsening repression and continued unrest on the island, they argue, indicates that U.S policy has failed to support stability in Bahrain. Furthermore, it could potentially even undermine U.S. efforts to reduce violent extremism in the region.
At the same time, deteriorating relations with Iran and ongoing counterterrorism operations in the region have reaffirmed the strategic logic that drove Washington to maintain a productive relationship with Manama in the first place. Heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf especially serve to underscore the continued relevance of the Fifth Fleet’s presence. Even if the United States could promote greater stability by pushing harder for reforms, the consequences of compromising U.S. military readiness, let alone losing the cooperation of a regional ally, could be severe.