Bahrain is a small nation in the middle-east and is located beside such neighbors as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. According to the truce that these countries have decided to enter into, Bahrain is also a member of the Gulf Co-Operation Council which regulates international relations in all spheres between these countries. This council regulates norms related to trade, administration, military affairs and even tourism that would operate in all its member countries and hence, Bahrain too is not ruled out from its purview. This council also plays a major role in deciding air travel and airlines within these nations. According to these rules, Bahrain shares a partnership with Oman in the airline that operates within the Gulf area, called the Gulf Air. Earlier Qatar and Abu Dhabi too were members of Gulf Air but withdrew citing differences with the other partners.
Qatar and Bahrain have long suffered a dispute over some territories and problems related to maritime delimitation had also risen. But very recently the International Court of Justice have solved this dispute by awarding administration of Hawar islands and Qit'at Jaradah to Bahrain and by handling over the administration of Zubarah, Janan Island and Fasht ad Dibal to Qatar because they lie within the Qatar peninsula and subsequently the maritime problem was solved by withdrawing the international border. It is now expected worldwide that this judgment can bring about erstwhile peaceful relations between Qatar and Bahrain.
Bahrain recently has increased awareness in the middle-east about bettering their ties with the G8 and African countries through hosting the Forum for the Future in 2005. Bahrain also plays a major role in promoting international relations by hosting several research meets like the IISS Gulf Dialogue.
