H.R. McMaster in conversation with His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States, on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 9:00am PT.
In this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and Ambassador Sheikh Abdullah Rashid Al Khalifa discuss developments in Bahrain, regional dynamics, and the future of peace and security in the Middle East.
Watch the Livestream here on Wednesday, December 14, 2022
RECAP
In this episode of Battlegrounds, Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster and Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United States, Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, discuss Bahrain’s evolution to a constitutional monarchy; Iran’s threats to Middle East security and stability; and fruits that can be reaped from the Abraham Accords of 2020, which normalized relations between Israel and three Arab nations, including Bahrain.
Al Khalifa begins the conversation by describing the close ties forged between his country and the United States since the beginning of the post–World War II era. The two sides officially normalized relations in the early 1970s. In 1971, Bahrain became the home of a strategically important United States naval base, where the navy’s Fifth Fleet is located and has supported military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the greater Middle East and Africa. In 1995, Bahraini leaders pegged the kingdom’s currency (the dinar) to the US dollar, a policy intended to enhance the kingdom’s financial stability.
Two decades ago, Bahrain became a constitutional democracy. Ambassador Al Khalifa says that its political leadership is committed to preserving a pluralistic society, which is composed of Bahrainis as well as various ethnic and religious groups from throughout the Arab world and South Asia. Al Khalifa explains that the Bahraini government’s allowance for people of any religion to worship freely offends the leadership of its gulf neighbor, Iran, which adheres to a fundamentalist version of Shiite Islam. Iran, he asserts, has attempted to turn Bahrain’ strength of diversity into a vulnerability, by fomenting sectarian violence. And although Iran has caused many challenges for Bahrain’s domestic politics, his government has “doubled down” on the principle of peaceful coexistence and tolerance between peoples regardless of belief system.
Al Khalifa explains that the shared visions between the signatories of the Abraham Accords (Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan) are not just about bolstering defenses in the Middle East but also about achieving a grander vision of peace and prosperity in the region. Since the accords were signed at the end of 2020, participating nations have been working closely to identify future challenges and joint areas of cooperation on a range of issues, including strengthening food and health security; developing cleaner energy resources; expanding educational opportunities; and increasing the flow of tourism.
Finally, Al Khalifa underlines the importance of energy security in the wake of oil and gas shortages and price spikes caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Aiming to inoculate his country from such shocks, he explains that Bahrain—an oil- and gas-producing nation—has initiatives running in parallel to maximize its existing resources, while also creating new energy technologies that do not depend on fossil fuels.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa was appointed Bahrain's ambassador to the United States in April 2017. Born in 1980, Al Khalifa is the son of Bahraini Interior Minister Lieutenant General Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. The younger Al Khalifa graduated from Ibn Khuldoon National School in 1997 and came to the United States for college. He earned a B.S. in management from Bentley College (now Bentley University) in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2001 and an MBA from the same school in 2003. Bentley opened a Bentley in Bahrain program in 2002.
H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 26th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.
