As the Gulf’s oppressive summer approaches, a small army of workers is bedding down petunias beside the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman highway while cars roar past from Manama airport to Bahrain’s southern desert. Above them flourishes a thicket of billboards in the red-and-white livery of the country’s national flag.
Public hoardings sponsored by the Economic Development Board advertise the appeal of “business friendly Bahrain”, while others assure passers-by that Bahrain International Circuit is “where the heart lies”.
The fourth leg of the annual Formula One motor racing championship is coming to the unsettled kingdom this week. Rather than just a sporting fixture, Bahrain’s government sees next Sunday’s race as a chance to market itself to the world.
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