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UK to shore up Persian Gulf allies to maintain hegemony: Pundit

Saturday, 10 December 2016 2:36 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 10 December 2016 3:51 PM ]

Saudi King Salman (L), British Prime Minister Theresa May (C) and King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, pose for a picture during a [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) summit on December 7, 2016, in the Bahraini capital, Manama. (Photo by AFP)

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the UK “is back” in the Persian Gulf region and will remain committed to the security of its Arab allies there in the foreseeable future.

Colin Cavell, a former lecturer of the University of Bahrain, believes the United Kingdom has stepped back in the Persian Gulf in an attempt to shore up “authoritarian, dictatorial, and illegitimate” regimes in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in order to maintain its hegemony in the region.

“What Boris Johnson, the British Foreign Secretary is asserting is that the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia and the House of Khalifah in Bahrain are weak and that the regimes no longer carry the support of any sizable percentage of the populations,” the academic told Press TV.

Stating that the Al Khalifah and Al Saud regimes are enjoying support from the UK, he added the people of the Arabian Peninsula have realized that these dictators have absolutely no legitimacy at all.

Cavell further argued it is going to be very difficult for the UK to keep supporting these regimes because the people have risen up and are demanding freedom and democracy and they no longer wish to live under the stooges of Britain.

According to the academic, Britain seeks to maintain its hegemonic control over the region because it is taking a tremendous amount of oil and natural gas out of it.

“The strategic location of Bahrain and the region allows Britain to assert its hegemonic control throughout the entire area. So it is a very valuable area and a very valuable plum for the United Kingdom in its continued aspirations to be an imperialist power,” he said.

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