The Proxy Battle in Bahrain
\nBy MICHAEL SLACKMAN
\nPublished: March 19, 2011<\/p>\n
CAIRO \u2014 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated one lesson learned from the course of pro-democracy uprisings across the Middle East: The world may cheer when autocrats resign, but it picks carefully which autocrats to punish for opening fire on their citizens.<\/p>\n
That cynical bit of realpolitik seems to have led the king to send troops last week over the causeway from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, where they backed up a violent crackdown on unarmed protesters by Bahrain\u2019s own security forces.<\/p>\n
The move had immediate consequences for Middle East politics, and for American policy: It transformed Bahrain into the latest proxy battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for regional dominance. And it called into question which model of stability and governance will prevail in the Middle East, and which Washington will help build: one based on consensus and hopes for democracy, or continued reliance on strongmen who intimidate opponents, sow fear and co-opt reformist forces while protecting American interests like ensuring access to oil and opposing Iran.<\/p>\n
For Saudi Arabia, the issue in Bahrain is less whether Bahrain will attain popular rule than whether Iranian and Shiite influence will grow.<\/p>\n
Iran and Saudi Arabia have sparred on many fronts since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 \u2014 a Shiite Muslim theocracy in Tehran versus a deeply conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy in Riyadh \u2014 in a struggle for supremacy in the world\u2019s most oil-rich region. The animosity was evident in Saudi Arabia\u2019s support for Iraq during its war with Iran, and it still shows in Iran\u2019s backing for Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Now, after a decade that seemed to tilt the regional balance toward Iran, Saudi Arabia decided that Bahrain was the place to put its thumb more heavily on the scale. It sent troops under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council to help crush pro-democracy demonstrations because most of the protesters were Shiites challenging a Sunni king. …source<\/a><\/p>\n