Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

President George W. Bush welcomes Hamad to the Oval Office on 29 November 2004

After Hamad took power in 1999, he focused on attaining stability in a nation riddled with profound tensions after the 1990s uprising. The King succeeded in improving the living standards and in making Bahrain a financial hub. During the period 2003–2010 the Shi'ite community accused his government of corruption, discrimination in housing and jobs, recruiting foreigners to the military services and bringing Sunni tribes from Asia to change the demographic composition of the nation.

Although King Hamad's reign has seen the admittance of Shi'ites into positions in the government, there have still been calls for a more equitable distribution of positions and jobs. The Al Khalifa family lead a large number of ministerial and governmental posts including the Ministry of the Interior,[7] Ministry of Justice,[8] the Ministry of Finance,[9] the Ministry of Culture,[10] the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[11] the Bahrain Economic Development Board[12] and the Supreme Council for Women.[13] Also, the vast majority of significant positions in the Bahrain Defence Force are filled with Sunnis,[14] who account for half of the population.

In October 2010, Hamad's government accused 24 Shi'ite Bahraini citizens of forming a terrorist cell linked to Iran and trained in Syria intending to overthrow the regime, and for planning terrorist attacks. Opposition parties denounced the accusations and described it as propaganda. After a few weeks, tension rose again after the controversial 2010 Bahraini parliamentary election when the main opposition bloc Al Wefaq National Islamic Society with secularist National Democratic Action Society (Waad) complained that the election system was unfair and that there were aims to reduce the number of opposition chairs in the parliament, although the first party won nearly 40% of the available seats.

King Hamad with Russian President Vladimir Putin and British business magnate Bernie Ecclestone, Russian Grand Prix, 12 October 2014.

King Hamad meets with President Donald Trump on 21 May 2017.

On 14 February 2011, the tenth anniversary of a referendum in favour of the National Action Charter, and ninth anniversary of the writing of the Constitution of 2002, Bahrain was rocked by protests inspired by the Arab Spring and co-ordinated by a Facebook page named "Day of Rage in Bahrain", a page that was liked by tens of thousands just one week after its creation. The Bahrain government responded with what has been described as a "brutal" crackdown[15][16][17] on the protests, including violations of human rights that caused anger. Later on, demonstrators demanded that Hamad step down.[18] As a result of this "massive" crackdown, Foreign Policy Magazine classified him as ranking 3rd out of 8 of "America's Unsavory Allies" calling him "one of the bad guys the U.S. still supports".[19]

On 11 February 2011, King Hamad ordered that 1,000 Bahraini Dinars (approximately US$2,667) be given to "each family" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Action Charter referendum. Agence France-Presse linked the BD1,000 payments to 14 February 2011 demonstration plans.[20]

On 15 February 2011, Hamad apologized for the deaths of two demonstrators in a rare TV speech and urged an investigation into the incident.[6] Two days later, four protesters were killed and hundreds wounded when protesters were attacked in Pearl Roundabout at 03:00 am local time. The Pearl Roundabout was evacuated and encircled by the Bahraini army. Two days later, Prince Salman, Hamad's son, ordered the withdrawal of army troops from there after the death of another protester caused by live ammunition next to Pearl roundabout.

During the peak of the Bahraini uprising in mid March 2011, Hamad declared a State of National Safety for three months just after Salman summoned Peninsula Shield Force troops to enter Bahrain. Saudi Arabia deployed about 1,000 troops with armoured support, and the United Arab Emirates deployed about 500 troops. Opposition parties reacted strongly, calling it an "occupation". Hamad, however, claimed that he deployed the troops to "protect infrastructure and to secure key installations". After this step, the country's economy suffered losses estimated at billions . The security situation deteriorated in areas where people were demonstrating against him. While dozens of deaths were announced, including five who died in custody as a result of torture.

In June 2011, Hamad commissioned the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, headed by respected human rights lawyer M. Cherif Bassiouni, to look into the events surrounding the unrest. The establishment of the BICI was praised by Barack Obama and the international community[21][22] as a step towards establishing responsibility and accountability for the events of the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising. The BICI reported its findings in November 2011 and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "commend[ed] King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's initiative in commissioning it".[23] In August 2012, Amnesty International stated that "the government's response has only scratched the surface of these issues. Reforms have been piecemeal, perhaps aiming to appease Bahrain's international partners, and have failed to provide real accountability and justice for the victims".[24]

In August 2020, King Hamad explained to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Bahrain is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state, implicitly rejecting the normalization of ties with Israel.[25] However, on 11 September 2020, it was announced that Bahrain and Israel had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations.[26] On 15 September 2020, Bahrain officially opened state to state relations with Israel, signing diplomatic agreements at a public ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C.[27]