Opinion: Gulf deference to Western influence may be ending
The UK’s opening of its new naval base in Bahrain, which will be known as the Naval Support Facility, represents the first permanent UK naval base in over 50 years and a significant policy shift.
Since 1971, when the last permanent forces pulled out, UK defence policy has regarded commitments in the Gulf as a short-term operation, not a long-term commitment for which forces are maintained and supported. As one weary observer put it, ‘since 1980, when the Royal Navy began the Armilla Patrol, the UK has done nearly 40 six-month operational tours of the Gulf’.
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