British Bahrain 1

Have you ever wondered how the Bahraini dictatorship has managed to survive for nearly 50 years on the shakiest foundations imaginable?

After all, the ruling Al-Khalifa family and its cohorts are Sunnis whilst the majority of the island nation’s population of nearly 1.6 million people are Shia Muslims. Moreover, significant chunks of Bahrain’s security apparatus are comprised of foreigners, mostly of south Asian backgrounds.

Built on shaky foundations, and detested by the majority of its people, the Bahraini regime is mostly reliant on its former colonial master, the United Kingdom, for protection and strategic direction. In so far as Bahrain is concerned, it seems that little has changed since the heady days of Sir Charles Belgrave, the UK’s chief advisor or “advisorate” as he was affectionately known by his staff, for 30 years beginning in 1926.

Like the contemporary Bahraini rulers, Belgrave actively instigated conflict between Sunni and Shia as part of a broader strategy to keep the country divided and equally important to keep interested foreign powers at bay. In contemporary terms, although the system of repression has become more complex, the underlying issues have not. The simple truth is that the Al-Khalifas need Britain just to survive.