Business Standard: Bahrain Became Proxy for Pan-Regional feud with Iran... It Could be a Loser
2016-06-26 - 3:05 ص
Bahrain Mirror: The economic Business Standard magazine said that Bahrain is caught in the middle of a high-stakes game between its larger neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The magazine considered that the tiny kingdom's Sunni monarchy depends on the support it receives from Riyadh and other oil-rich sheikhdoms in the Gulf for its survival but in return has become a proxy for their pan-regional feud with Iran.
Bahrain stripped citizenship from the spiritual leader of its majority Shi'ite Muslim population. That is a risky strategy. The public defenestration of Ayatollah Isa Qassim may have turned a mostly harmless thorn in the side of the ruling Khalifa family into a serious political crisis by inflaming sectarian tension.
Instability is bad for business in a tiny kingdom with dwindling resources and many regional competitors for foreign investment.
A big fear for the government will be the loss of appeal to investors.
Business Standard said the Saudi's attempts to diversify its economy away from oil, and Iran's re-emergence into the global financial system as sanctions are lifted, will create tensions that draw in neighbours like Bahrain.
"That is inevitable. Instead of taking sides in a messy proxy war though, the small Gulf trading enclave might be wiser to appease its own people and remain neutral - otherwise no matter which of side comes out on top, Bahrain could be a loser," the magazine further stated.
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