The Crown Prince welcomed and stressed the importance of continued cooperation between Bahrain and the United States in areas of common interest. He recognized the importance of the U.S. government`s continued engagement with Bahrain and its allies and noted that improving U.S.-Kingdom relations supports regional security. The Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) has about 12,000 men and consists of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense and Royal Guard Units. The public security forces and coast guard are separated from the BDF and report to the Ministry of the Interior. Bahrain also has a National Guard consisting of about 1200 employees. Bahrain`s defence spending has been stable since 1999. The government spends about $630 million a year on the military, or about 20 percent of current spending. EXTERNAL RELATIONS Since independence in 1971, Bahrain has pursued a policy of close coordination with neighbouring countries. Bahrain became a member of the United Nations and the Arab League in 1971. In 1981, it joined its five neighbors – Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Councils and Qatar – to form the Strategic Council for Gulf Cooperation (GCC). Bahrain has respected the GCC`s efforts to coordinate economic development and defence and security planning.
In December 1994, for example, Bahrain accepted the GCC`s decision to abandon secondary and tertiary boycotts against Israel. Bahrain also responded favourably to Kuwait`s request to deploy the GCC`s collective defence force, “Peninsula Shield”, during the establishment and implementation of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in 2003. In the 1830s, the Al Khalifa signed the first of many contracts established by Bahrain as a British protectorate. Like the binding protection contracts concluded by other persian Gulf princes, the agreements reached by the Al Khalifa prohibited them from ceding the territory and establishing relations with a foreign government without the British agreement, in exchange for British protection against the threat of a military attack by Ottoman Turkey. The main British naval base in the region was transferred to Bahrain in 1935, shortly after large-scale oil production began. While these defense pacts go far beyond this initial scope, they have proven essential for several major U.S. military operations in the region of the youngest.