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Bahrain hosted the 18th edition of the Manama Dialogue on 18-20 November, a major geopolitical summit run by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). National security advisor Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalfia gave the opening remarks.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised the outlook on Bahrain’s B+ rating from stable to positive on 25 November, citing the government’s efforts to reduce the budget deficit and solid growth in non-oil revenues which will help to place debt as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) “on a more sustainable path”.

GSN Risk Grade: C↑3↓ A second run-off round of voting was held on 19 November, for the 34 Majlis Al-Nuwab (Council of Representatives) constituencies where there had been no outright winner on 12 November.  Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa was reappointed prime minister on 21 November by his father King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

A list of the 24 member Bahraini cabinet, appointed 22 November 2022.

Deals worth $1.8bn were agreed at Bahrain International Air Show, according to officials, although few details were publicly announced. The sixth running of the show was held from 9-11 November at Sakhir Air Base, in the centre of the island. Some 186 companies participated from 33 countries, with visits from 225 military and civil delegations.

Bahraini and UAE diplomats in Laayoune (also written El Aioun) took part in the 47th anniversary of the late King Hassan II’s Green March, held by Morocco in early November to commemorate its takeover of the disputed territory of Western Sahara following the withdrawal of colonial Spain in 1975.

Bahraini authorities congratulated themselves on the smooth running of the election for the 40-seat Majlis Al-Nuwab (Council of Representatives) on 12 November, claiming a turnout of 73%, the highest since elections resumed under the 2002 constitution. However, opposition groups – many of whom boycotted the election – have done their best to dispute the official narrative.

Oman’s Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said made a relatively rare trip within the region in October, travelling to Bahrain for talks with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa. The two rulers witnessed the signing of several agreements, including ones on co-operation in security, transport, tourism, education and other areas.

Imagery recently released by the United States space agency Nasa has highlighted the dramatic change in Bahrain over the past three and half decades, as a result of huge land reclamation schemes.

Manama continues to make efforts to enhance its credentials for freedom of religion, with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa holding talks with the Indian Orthodox Church supreme leader Pope Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Mathews III at Al-Safriya Palace.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa was in Fontainebleau, France, to watch his son and representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa compete in a horse-riding endurance race.

Bahrain is to host the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis and Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb at the 3-4 November  Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence. It will be the centrepiece of a four-day visit by the pope.

Senior Gulf figures travelled to Tokyo for the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 27 September. Abe was murdered on 8 July, while campaigning in the country’s general election.

Bahrain is heading into another election for its unicameral  parliament, the Council of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwab), amid calls by government critics to shun the event.There are doubts about the level of voter enthusiasm even without a formal boycott, with opposition parties such as Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and Waad (the National Democratic Action Society) still banned

The ambivalent attitude of Gulf rulers towards Washington has been given added rationale by two newly released opinion polls, which found that nationals of Saudi Arabia and the UAE think it more important to maintain good relations with Russia and China than with the United States.