Hamad II of Bahrain

Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (Arabic: حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة; born 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain, having reigned since 2002, and was previously Emir of Bahrain since 1999.

Hamad received his early education in Bahrain and in the United Kingdom before attending the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, Hampshire, from which he graduated in 1968. He also became a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1973. After his return to Bahrain, Hamad served as the commander of the Bahrain National Guard, commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), and minister of state for defense. He established the air force as an independent branch of the BDF. He succeeded his father, Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, as emir in 1999 and became the first king of Bahrain when he declared the country a kingdom in 2002.

Hamad's reign has been marked by transformative political, constitutional, and economic reforms. Shortly after succeeding his father in 1999, he released political prisoners and proposed a reform package, the National Action Charter, which led to a new constitution in 2002. The constitution officially changed Bahrain from an emirate to a constitutional monarchy. A legislative election was held for the first time in decades. His reign has also seen efforts to diversify the economy and expand Bahrain's role as a regional financial centre. However, it has been accompanied by political tensions and periods of unrest, most notably during the 2011 Bahraini uprising and its aftermath.

Bahrain under Hamad is considered a semi-constitutional monarchy in which the state is dominated by the House of Al Khalifa and security forces commit human rights violations. He presided over the response to the 2011 protests, including by declaring martial law and allowing the deployment of Saudi and Emirati troops. In foreign policy, he sought close alliances with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. Hamad supported the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and contributed forces for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in 2015. In 2020, he negotiated a normalization agreement with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, and in 2026 he joined the US-led Board of Peace.