Now that Bahrain is part of the new U.S.-Israel-Middle East corridor of co-operation that is being developed from the U.S. (and Israel), through the UAE (and Bahrain, Kuwait and, in part, Saudi Arabia) through to India, as a regional counterbalance to China’s growing sphere of influence, a series of finance- and oil output-boosting measures are being lined up. From the U.S.-Israel perspective, not only will increasing Bahrain’s oil output bolster the stability of the pro-U.S. ruling al-Khalifa royal family – essential to the security of the U.S. Navy’s regional headquarters that is based in the country – but its continued participation in the U.S.-brokered ‘relationship normalization’ deal with Israel will encourage close neighbor Saudi Arabia to formally acknowledge the two pro-Israel deals done recently. Economically, much remains to be done to repair the damage done to Bahrain’s finances by the second disastrous oil price war launched by Saudi Arabia […]