In reality, however millions are suffering as a consequence of not having secured this fundamental human right. Whilst it is legitimately a sovereign right of any state to withdraw nationality from their citizens, this can only be undertaken in extreme circumstance and must be done in adherence to both domestic and international regulations. Without such restrictions it would be at the discretion of any ruling political power to implement a redefinition of its citizenry, for example denationalizing a section of society who they feel will not vote for them, or a section of society whose religious beliefs differs from the national norm. While the manipulation of the boundaries of legal citizenship is not a new phenomenon, it has received relatively little attention. This is despite the devastating consequences of the exploitation of statelessness, for example by the Third Reich on European Jewery and more recently the government of Myanmar (Burma) and their persecution of the Rohingya. This article draws on the increasingly frequent examples in the Arab world during the recent socio-political turmoil, of the use of citizenship as a political weapon and the dangerous arbitrary (de)naturalizations. By looking at the examples of Bahrain, the UAE, Syria and Kuwait, this article highlights the dangerous norm in the region that, although not being the explicit objective of states, they are manipulating the citizenship to such an extent that it can create statelessness. Political 'homogonisation' of the citizenry; the case of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates The creation of new cases of statelessness at times of political instability to silence critical voices has been a tool utilised by several Arab states of late. A prominent example of this is Bahrain. The volatile situation in Bahrain started in February 2011 surrounding the need for more political freedoms and equality between all citizens, without the preferential treatment of the Sunni minority. In November 2012 the Bahraini government ordered that 35 of its citizens, all of them prominent opposition figures, be stripped of their Bahraini nationality. According to most reports only six of them hold another nationality (Bahrain does not recognize dual nationality)8 rendering an estimated 25 new cases of stateless individuals. Jawad Farouiz was one of those targeted in this decree. The reasons given by the Ministry of Interior was that Article 10 of the Bahraini 1963 nationality law allows the withdrawal of nationality under extreme circumstances. The 35 individuals in Bahrain, without any form of due process, have under this provision been accused of undermining the security of the state. Article 10. 4 of the Bahraini law does allow the withdrawal of nationality when someone “causes harm to the security of the State”. Whether the targeted individuals have been found to seriously undermine the security of the state is not clear due to the lack of transparency of this decision. There had been instability in the country with a spate of bombings in the weeks leading up to this decision, but most indications show that this was purely a political move. Those effected had first 8 Article 9 of the Bahraini Citizenship act -3Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2376426