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One of the most intriguing stories of Bahrain’s public relations activities is that of Liliane Khalil.  The ‘journalist’, who began writing at the beginning of the Arab Spring, contributed to Egyptian news site Bikya Masr and the notorious and now shut Bahrain Independent, where her ‘exposés’ included an article on the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights’ links to “Iranian-backed terrorist groups”.

Bahrain is scrambling to maintain a respectable media image and stave off potential damage to delicate arms deals and trade agreements in the wake of the Arab spring.   

The storm over comments made by the chair of the body set up to investigate human rights abuses since February, has cast doubts over its credibility. Some observers believe this could work against the interests of the king, who may have a vested interest in the panel digging deep and its findings being deemed credible

Bahraini prime minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa in late August called for new measures to combat economic crime in an effort to fight corruption. Local media reported him as saying that establishing an anti-corruption agency was vital to ensure a just economic system.

Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has been seen in several western capitals (including London in May and Washington in June) over the past few months, but has also been travelling at home.

Bahrain’s National Dialogue concluded on 30 July with three concrete recommendations and a lot more woolly statements presented to King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa (GSN 905/4). If robustly implemented, these measures could eventually lead to more representative, tolerant government and greater transparency, in a system where a wider range of Bahraini voices are heard and officials are brought to account for abuses (with ministers potentially facing Kuwait-style ‘grillings’ in parliament).

National dialogue aiming to resolve the chasms exposed by Bahrain’s ‘Spring’ started on 5 July with policy debates under four broad headings: politics, society, economy and rights. The recommendations of this four-week dialogue will be processed by the bi-cameral legislature, the government and the King.

Conflicting accounts of the validity and successes of this-four week process abound, with some GSN sources lauding its progress and others doubting its sincerity. But Al-Wefaq’s formal withdrawal on 18 July could sound the death knell for a dialogue that many believed would only ever deliver the shallowest of reform

A growing trend for Gulf states to import liquefied natural gas from Pacific Rim and other sources underlines a hard truth: within a short period, many of the GCC’s fast-growing, high rent economies may no longer be defined as energy exporters and within the coming decade will be energy-dependent polities with all that implies for their fiscal and external balances

The first official session of Bahrain’s National Dialogue, chaired by Council of Representatives speaker Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Dhahrani, took place on the evening of 5 July.

Foreign and local critics of the regime’s response to demonstrations calling for political reform have welcomed the appointment of an international commission to enquire into Bahrain’s ‘Arab Spring’ crisis. With opposition reactions ranging from reservation to distrust, King Hamad has much to do to rebuild trust in his divided kingdom

The recently announced marriage of King Abdullah’s daughter Sahab to King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s son Sheikh Khalid, is highly unusual. Al-Saud women marry outside the wider family extremely rarely, and then only to trusted or established families like the Sudeiri. Genealogists canvassed by GSN said it was possibly the first time the daughter of a Saudi king had married into another royal family since an episode in the late 19th century when the Al-Saud were forced to give a female member to the Al-Rashid family. However, there have been high level marriages between the Al-Maktoum and Al-Khalifa/Al-Thani.

In an unusual move, Sheikh Khalid, the 21-year-old fifth son of Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, has married Sahab Bint Abdullah, a daughter of the Saudi monarch. As with Saudi Arabia’s $400m grant to Sunni neighbour Jordan, announced on 2 June, the move demonstrates increased regional interconnectedness during a period when Bahrain’s stability – and the wider region’s future direction – is uncertain. The dynastic marriage is “a sign of the times,” Brookings Doha Center director Salman Shaikh told GSN. The Gulf states all have serious concerns about regional stability and this is reflected in signs of growing intra-Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) unity – bar ongoing bilateral spats between some neighbours.

Reuters correspondent Frederik Richter is among the journalists to be expelled from Bahrain as the authorities have cracked down. He reported that Ministry of Information official Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nezar Al-Khalifa on 16 June gave him one week to leave, complaining that Reuters had lacked balance in its reporting during the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on 31 May issued an industry report card, Banks in the Gulf are on the way to recovery, but has the dust settled? projecting relatively positive prospects for most Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) banks. It said many were “continu[ing] to show resilience or even signs of a gradual improvement”.