The United States ambassador to Bahrain is the official representative of the president of the United States to the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. The current Ambassador to Bahrain is Steven C. Bondy who has been serving since 9 February 2022. Until 1971, Bahrain had been part of a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

along with the other

sheikhdom A sheikhdom or sheikdom () is a geographical area or a society ruled by a tribal leader known as a sheikh (). Sheikhdoms exist almost exclusively within Arab countries, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula (Arab States of the Persian Gulf), wit ...

s in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. In 1971 the protectorate ended and seven of the other sheikhdoms joined in a

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

to become the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Bahrain, however, did not join the federation but declared its independence on 15 August 1971. The United States recognized the State of Bahrain on the same day and moved to establish

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. The U.S. Embassy in

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

was opened on 21 September 1971, with John N. Gatch, Jr. as

Chargé d'Affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

''ad interim''. Ambassador William A. Stoltzfus, Jr. presented his credentials to the government of Bahrain on 17 February 1972. Stoltzfus was concurrently the ambassador to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, and the

, while resident in Kuwait. The first ambassador commissioned solely to Bahrain was

Joseph W. Twinam Joseph Wright Twinam (July 11, 1934 – June 12, 2001) was an American diplomat with a focus on the Middle East. Ambassador Twinam was the first U.S. ambassador accredited solely to Bahrain, serving from 1974 to 1976. He served as Deputy Assistan ...

in 1974.

Ambassadors and chiefs of mission

Notes

References

United States Department of State: Background notes on BahrainChiefs of Mission for Bahrain

External links

United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Bahrain

United States Department of State: Bahrain

United States Embassy in Manama
{{Bahrain–United States relations

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Ambassadors and chiefs of mission

Notes

See also

References

External links