Bahrain’s Uprising: Regional Dimensions and International Consequences

The uprising in Bahrain that began on 14 February 2011 has been contained but not resolved. While the immediate period of danger to the position of the ruling Al-Khalifa family has passed, positions on all sides have hardened, and there is little prospect of a political settlement to Bahrain's deep-rooted social and economic inequalities. As the Bahraini government has failed to offer meaningful concessions to political reform, it has splintered and radicalised an opposition unsure what to do next, but also undermined its own constituency of support among the island's Sunni communities. These trajectories have set in motion a radical reconfiguring of the island's political landscape in ways that do not augur well for longer-term prospects for reconciliation and recovery.