A balance from the East

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

Top of the news this past week has been that three countries - Ireland, Spain and Norway - announced that they would recognize a Palestinian state.

In addition, South Africa has been unrelenting in pursuing its accusation of genocide against Israel in the ICJ. The ICJ has also called for Israel to stop the offensive in Rafah.

These moves on the international stage seem to presage the vision of our King Hamad who has set into motion an international action plan to leverage the Arab Summit and add the balancing voices of other giant players to the search for peace.

Firstly, His Majesty’s approach to include Russia and China in finding a solution to the MidEast crisis dismantles the supremacy given to Western countries in finding a solution to the problem.

To give complete agency to countries far away from the seat of trouble, is to continue a colonial mindset and our King belongs to a generation of leaders who learnt the skill of governing long after Bahrain and the region won independence.

Bahrain has always sought consensus building and at the same time, stood firm on matters of its rights.

This has won it the respect of great countries such as Russia and China. Thus, our King Hamad’s recent visits to these two superpowers to amplify the message of peace of the Arab Summit is relevant and timely.

In particular, His Majesty mentioned to Russia about relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and affirmed that Bahrain is a country of peace that does not close its doors to its neighbors, a valuable trait that keeps channels of communication open even in the heat of battle.

In China, His Majesty stressed the value of peace in the Middle East not just in terms of enhanced quality of life and human rights for the people of the region but also the opportunities it opens for prosperity and commerce with the rest of the world.

By bringing Russia and China into the matrix for peace, His Majesty has sought to end one of the biggest pretexts used by the West to create chaos in the Middle East region.

After this royal tour, we will see active movements by major leaders in the region at the same level and the Middle East will be taken more seriously since His Majesty King Hamad has changed the equation of the search for peace with statesmanship and wisdom.