Vol. 11, No. 2 2 June 2011
Michael Segall
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Bahrain is the locus of a titanic struggle between regional powers representing polar extremes of Islam (Shiite Iran vs. Sunni Saudi Arabia), and international powers' economic and geo-strategic interests.
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Washington has been regarded as Bahrain's main ally. The command of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, operating in the Persian Gulf as a counterweight to Iran, is located in Bahrain. Yet Washington finds it difficult to formulate a consistent policy toward the protest there.
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Bahrain is now at one of the most sensitive points in its history: it is truly in the Iranian lion's maw, still hosts the main naval base of the American fleet in the Gulf region, and is a microcosm of the current struggle between the old and the new in the Middle East.
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Iran has claimed sovereignty over Bahrain, maintaining that Bahrain formerly constituted Iran's fourteenth province. Iran is acting vigorously in Bahrain to overthrow the regime through planting clandestine cells and organizing the Shiite population for protests, and is being aided by Lebanese Hizbullah.
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The battle in Bahrain has not yet concluded. Iran seeks to use the kingdom as a springboard for continued influence and, given U.S. and Western indecisiveness, Saudi Arabia finds itself almost alone in confronting Iran.
