And what of Bahrain?

[jumpy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12468336

Following the recent spate of civil unrest and demands for reform in tunis and egypt, things have moved further to bahrain.
I do hope my old adopted home does not suffer the same collapse of government as the other two states have recently had. Reform, yes. Though it is my personal opinion that the shia majority need to be kept on a tight reign at times, as they tend to be a good deal more fundamentalist in their attitude than most suni bahrainis.
That said, part of the trouble is the apparent disparity between suni/shia wealth and power.
Maybe the future is with some of bahrains young generation - internet savvy and with a more progressive view of the future of the country, less dominated by unrest and religious fundamentalism.
To quote the article:

Many in the crowd waved Bahraini flags and chanted: "No Sunnis, no Shia. We are all Bahrainis".

Perhaps my current thought is coloured by a long past view of the country from an ex-pat bubble, but it was a nice place to live for the most part.
Of all the gulf states, except perhaps for kuwait or dubai, bahrain was one of the most welcoming for westerners, for tourism, business and emigration.
For such a small country I hope things remain as stable as they can be for reform to continue and evolve into something better for bahrainis.

[August]

Originally Posted by jumpy

For such a small country I hope things remain as stable as they can be for reform to continue and evolve into something better for bahrainis.

Ditto.

[bookworm_020]

I hope that Bahrain can make the transition to something better peaceful. That would truly be the greatest outcome.

The people of the Middle East have seem to have woken from their slumber and realise they do have the power to bring about change, not with a gun and threat, but with a will and a voice that refuses to be silenced. To those who seek the freedom to speak out, may you succeed. To those who have achieved it, the on going cost of that freedom is the unceasing responsibility to keep what they have won.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I worked there for a couple of months, and I've passed through many times, and I think it is the best Gulf state I've visited (not done UAE, Yemen, or Qatar though.) Although it's always been uneasy and unfair Sunni over Shia (like most places) it has always been welcoming, and I too would like to see some peaceful reform - every article in the news on Radio Bahrain was 'somebody Al Khalifa'.

And the price of beer needs to be drastically reduced!

[Weiss Pinguin]

I lived there about two and a half years (dad's last overseas tour before we came here), and it was definitely something else. I would hate to see Bahrain get ripped up