Policy and Prejudice: Shia Divisionism in Bahrain
In early 2011, demonstrations erupted across the Arab world in an unprecedented fashion and revealed how powerful globalizing forces can weaken strong and even otherwise impervious states. Nations that experienced widening political revolutions shared a singular, significant trait—all had governments that were either monarchial or autocratic in structure. They were also situated for the most part in the Arabian Gulf and the Maghreb. Youth and pro-democracy movements that took hold also flared upon the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, which has had the same ruling monarchs in power since 1783.
