Exactly my friend Nihonji. Its good to see we are expanding our influence in the world and in the middle east as well. I'm indeed sure we are going to maintain peace and stability in the region together with our ally the U.S.
As you said earlier the middle east/muslims nations in this region can be very troublesome due to extremism/senseless religious radicialism and ultrnationalism...all these can indeed be a real powder keg. Just look at how my Sunni Saudi friend Al hasani reacts towards his shia 'Iranian mulsim brothers' on here and vice versa. Both of their messages conveys a huge hatred/resentment for each other i.e Sunnis and Shias (even though most of us in the west/East Asia dont even know even know the difference between them, since we all just see them as Muslims full stop.lol). I have pointed this out recently in another post, as long as middle eastern/msulim countries in the region prioritse religion and dont seperate religion from government, then they will always be growing far below their potential(unable to fully exploit all their true capabilities), as they will be involved in senseless wars like we have seen in Syria, which benefits no side and just destroys contries/create chaos/instability and deeper religious divides/radicalism in the region.
Muslims/middle eastern countries should know that no country will ever come help you develop your country except you. We can maybe provide some partnerships/joint training/military equipments sales/establish military bases to maintain peace and stability in the region, but then again thats also in our interests, since we have lots of interests in rich gulf states(to be honest its not really because we like them or want to help them per se), its just that we want peace and stability in these gulf countries for our own interests. However, as far this interests match with that of countries like Bahrain, U.A.E,SAUDI ARABIA, Qatar, etc then i dont find anything wrong in that. I do admit though that Bahrain is obviously a monarchy and a dictatorship, everybody knows this, no need in denying this.lol But then again our foreign policy(and any world power foreign policy for that matter) isn't based on democracy/freedom or whatever, so we couldnt really care less if Bahrain is a dictatorship or whetever, why should we? As far as we our interests are protected and the Bahraini leadershop thinks having our military in their country will serves their interests, so be it. I dont find anything wrong in that. Overall, each country should seek for their interests only, thats how politics works, if that interests matches with another countries own, then they can indeed forge a partnership/come to an nderstanding(which in this case led to the eastablishment of our military base in Bahrain.
).
Finally im surprised by Hasani reaction. I was thinking him being a muslim ultranationlist(i thought.lol), he will be completely against our presence in this region.
Anyway, its good to see he is a realist and knows world powers will always have an interests/influence over an oil rich region like the middle east. Thats indeed quite clever, since it useless to be overtly against powers you know you are far weaker than, since we(west/U.S) are by far the most powerful bloack in the wolrd. So its better not to go head on against us/be over confrontational like Iran, since it will only lead to your isolation/sanctions and economic trouble for that country for no real gain. So its serves no real purpose going head on against us, better be realistic and know how to play the great game.
Its a good deal for us bro. It couldnt be any better than this. They pay for the cost of us setting a military base in their country, while we not only increase our influence/presence in the region but also help further our interests in oil rich gulf states. It will be rather Naive to think its not a good deal for us to be honest. Maybe it wont be a good deal for Bahrain leadership/dictatorial monarchy, but then again that remains to be seen. Since it will hard for the oppositions groups/civilians who are against the Monarchy to topple them, since the odds are overwhelmingly against them(read west/U.S, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc). So i think its a good deal for both of us as a whole.