Manama: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reiterated her country's "profound commitment to the security, stability and development" of the Gulf region.

"We have enduring stakes here. We have historical friendships here. We have invested blood and treasure to protect those stakes, those friendships and those vital national security interests. We have acted to reverse aggression and no one should mistake our resolve in standing by our friends," she said in her speech at the Manama Dialogue.

"When our engagement with this region began decades ago, our relationships were largely routed in security and trade. Now, they extend much further. We and our Gulf partners are working together on issues including economic development, energy, education, water and health: the building blocks of stable, thriving societies."

However, Clinton said the US saw an opportunity to work with its Gulf partners beyond the region.

"The innovative, forward-leaning work that is happening in these countries and some of the defining issues of the twenty-first century signals a new era in our partnership. You are no longer Gulf partners: you are global partners. Our engagement with each other is broader and deeper today than ever before," she said. "I have had the great privilege of meeting with many people from the countries represented here in the Gulf who have a personal stake in the success of our efforts, because their futures will be shaped by what we do today, to strengthen Gulf security. Conflicts that arise here echo across the world. Many of our nations are targeted by the same networks of extremists. When they make headway here, they are emboldened elsewhere."

Clinton said that the economic significance of the Gulf meant that when its security is threatened, energy supplies, global commerce and trade flows can be disrupted.

"Now, part of being committed to the security of this region means identifying new threats and anticipating future ones, assessing how our defence cooperation can be improved and addressing the root causes of instability: the political, economic and social conditions that give rise to unrest and mistrust," she said.