... Foundations of the Shiite Opposition in Bahrain Louay Bahry Bahrain plays a special role among the six countries composing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Its civil society is the council’s most complex...

...Zoltan Barany The turmoil associated with the Arab Spring in the region’s eight monarchies has received comparatively modest attention because, aside from Bahrain, the demonstrations were mostly small and nonconfrontational, there were few calls to overthrow the regimes, and states’ coercive powers...

... Comparative GCC Statistics Saudi Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar Arabia UAE Population (millions) 0.7 2.5 3.2 0.9 27.6 4.4 Nationals 67.0 48.0 72.0 15–20.0* 80.0 15...

... is complicated. This essay aims to shed some light on the dynamics of relations among the major Sunni powers in the Middle East. It focuses on relations between Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After...

... constitu- tion and a formal separation of the military from the government. As a result, renewed protests in Egypt placed on hold the final chapter of the country’s revolution. Bahrain On 14 February 2011, protests began on the island nation of Bahrain, where a Sunni...

... of a homogeneous and, the same time, plural field of Arab culture.”1 This has become evident in the remarkable similarity, each with its own local distinc- tions, of the near simultaneous uprisings in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. Kassir goes on to identify a second form of universalism...

... to sell Iran almost any military hardware the shah desired. We were content to maintain only the two destroyers we had positioned in Bahrain since the early 1950s as our military presence in the area. The relationships that developed from this arrangement of giving military responsibility to Iran...

... In this essay I seek to document and analyze the relations between Turkey and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) —  Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Uman — during the period from 2003 to 2007. I focus especially on their increased trade, economic...

... public affairs officer in Bahrain, describes the political situation in this small Shiite majority kingdom ruled by a Sunni emir during the Arab Spring. The US embassy faced a dilemma; it wished to preserve the spe- cial relationship and great cooperation the United States had with Bahrain...

... comments made by its visitors, and was clearly attributable to the hard work and intel- ligent planning of its sponsors. Rachel Graaf Leslie, a one-­time public affairs officer in Bahrain, describes the political situation in this small Shiite majority kingdom ruled by a Sunni emir during the Arab...

... augured well for the support of bastions, which were seemingly stable during such unsure moments. Egypt was viewed as a steady bulwark for a dura- ble peace effort in the Middle East. Bahrain continued to play an impor- tant trusted role as the center of our maritime presence in the Persian Gulf...

... Sika: Dynamics of Development and Uprisings in the Arab World  51 Table 2 Annual GDP Growth in Arab Countries by Percentage 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010 Bahrain 3.9 5.3 7.8 6.3 NA Oman...

... breached and became well known across the Middle East and the Arab Gulf. Iran’s ruling theologi- cal regime remained the patron and financier of Syria and its brutal leader- ship while itself supporting Shiite militants in Lebanon and Bahrain. But even in Iran itself, the efforts to submerge popular...

... of these is the free-trade agreement signed with Jordan in 2001, followed by agreements with Morocco and Bahrain in 2004.10 Negotiations are currently at one stage or another with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and Egypt.11 The US strategy in the Middle East is a graduated one: negotiating...

... (Summer 2002): 85 – 96. 90 Mediterranean Quarterly: December 2017 Figure 1. Strength of Arab States Strong Weak Failing Failed Collapsed UAE Egypt Syria Iran Bahrain Yemen Qatar Saudi Arabia...

... of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. In the following month Riyadh sent troops to Bahrain to assist the authorities there in suppressing a popular uprising led by the Shiite majority.7 The messaging and narrative was that the kingdom considers turbulence in Bahrain a national security issue and would...

... that they quickly destabilized the regime and drove the long-­standing autocrat, Zine al-­ Abidine Ben Ali, from power. As Ben Ali fled to exile, the Tunisian uprising triggered protests in countries across the MENA region, including Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Within months, Hosni Mubarak’s...

... elites in the Arab world. Assad’s fall would significantly undermine Iran’s position. The Syrian conflict is only one theater in the geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. That rivalry also has been an important factor in the simmering tensions in Bahrain, where a Sunni monarchy...

... Iraq to pin down US forces in that country and might have success in cutting the tenu- ous supply line that runs north out of Kuwait. It could exploit Shiite ethnicity in critical US allies like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to encourage disruption, sabotage, and even possibly open revolt. It has...

... and the motivation to revolt. It is no accident that the one Persian Gulf monarchy that has been signifi- Pillar: Alienation and Rebellion in the Arab World  13 cantly shaken by the Arab Spring is the only one — Bahrain — in which a Sunni regime sits atop a Shiite majority. The sectarian...