The Hill News

Effective American diplomacy toward Bahrain can blend interest and principle. Doing so requires acknowledging that our base is critical, understanding the Island’s communal divisions and recognizing how support for the monarchy coincides with reform.
 
Bahrain’s repetitive demonstrations are more complex than just another Arab rising against a regime. Bahraini King Hamad’s democratic reforms of 2001 created a true elected parliament but with the monarchy controlling an appointed upper house. The Shia community that claims 70 percent of the population was certainly underrepresented (how much is uncertain without a census; the Sunni contend that the balance is closer to 60-40). Demands for government accountability and equitable representation eventually overflowed into demonstrations and two radically different narratives of events.
 
The Shia opposition sees government refusal and brutal suppression of calls for reform.

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