Relationship dossier
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Relationship assessment
Bahrain and the UAE maintain a close partnership marked by security cooperation and aligned regional policies.
Bahrain toward United Arab Emirates
+65Bahrain has pursued close regional alignment with the UAE, including joining the UAE in the 2020 Abraham Accords. Bahrain also supported the UAE and other Gulf partners during the 2017 Qatar diplomatic rupture by severing ties with Qatar.
United Arab Emirates toward Bahrain
+70The UAE contributed forces to the GCC Peninsula Shield deployment in Bahrain in 2011 and joined Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in a financial support package for Bahrain announced in 2018. The UAE also established relations with Bahrain through the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Overall relationship
+70The relationship has a durable cooperative structure, with UAE security and financial support for Bahrain alongside close regional policy alignment. Their participation in the Abraham Accords further reflected that alignment. The known major features are cooperative, although the breadth of routine bilateral coordination is less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates maintain a close security and political partnership. UAE forces participated in the 2011 GCC Peninsula Shield deployment to Bahrain, and the UAE joined Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in a 2018 financial support package for Bahrain. Both governments established formal relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords in 2020, reflecting substantial policy alignment.
Key developments
UAE forces participated in the GCC Peninsula Shield deployment to Bahrain during the 2011 unrest.
The UAE joined Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in announcing a financial support package for Bahrain.
Bahrain and the UAE signed the Abraham Accords, establishing formal relations with Israel.
Major uncertainties
- The extent and implementation of bilateral security and economic cooperation beyond these major initiatives are unclear.
- The scope of ongoing coordination between the two governments is uncertain.