Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (born 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain, having reigned as king since 2002 and previously as Emir of Bahrain from 1999. He is the second monarch of Bahrain since its independence in 1971 and the fourteenth of the Al Khalifa dynasty. ¹

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. His parents were Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, then crown prince, and Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa. ^{1 2}

After attending Manama secondary school in Bahrain, he was sent to England, to Applegarth College in Godalming and then The Leys School in Cambridge. He underwent military training with the British Army at Mons Officer Cadet School at Aldershot, graduating in September 1968, and in June 1973 he graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth with a degree in leadership. ¹

Hamad was designated heir apparent by his father on 27 June 1964. He was commissioned into the Bahrain National Guard in 1968 and appointed its commander the same year; in 1969 he became commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force, and from 1971 to 1988 he was minister of state for defence. ¹

He presided over the expansion of Bahrain's military, learned to fly helicopters in 1977–1978, and worked to establish the Bahrain Amiri Air Force, which came into being in 1987. ¹

His tenure as commander-in-chief coincided with the 1990s uprising in Bahrain, during which he was one of the negotiators with the opposition on the government side. ¹

On the death of his father Isa, Hamad became Emir of Bahrain on 6 March 1999. Shortly after succeeding, he released political prisoners and proposed a reform package, the National Action Charter. ^{1 3}

On 14 February 2002 he declared himself King of Bahrain when the country officially became a constitutional monarchy under its new constitution, and a legislative election was held for the first time in decades. ¹

He enjoys wide executive authorities, including appointing the prime minister and ministers, commanding the army, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the parliament's upper half and dissolving its elected lower half. Bahrain under Hamad is considered a semi-constitutional monarchy in which the Al Khalifa dynasty dominates the political system. His reign has also seen efforts to diversify the economy and expand Bahrain's role as a regional financial centre. ¹

This section sets out positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

In February 2011, protests inspired by the Arab Spring began in Bahrain. The government responded with what has been described as a brutal crackdown on the protests, including violations of human rights; demonstrators later demanded that Hamad step down. ¹

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