Bahrain’s Monarchy shows how to survive the Arab Spring – Bahrain Freedom Movement

By Con Coughlin – 13/12/2011 – 12:44 p | Hits: 455

One of the more interesting aspects of the phenomenon known as the Arab Spring is the resilience demonstrated by the Arab monarchies, such as in Bahrain, when confronted by anti-government protests.

While a succession of secular dictators in countries such Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen – with Syria possibly still to come – have succumbed to the demands of pro-democracy campaigners, the kings and sheikhs of the Arab world show no sign of following suit.

There have been similar public protests in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, which are all under monarchical rule. And yet the protesters have made little impact against the region’s highly durable monarchies.

A fascinating insight into how the monarchies are managing to survive these challenging times can be found in my fascinating interview on Monday with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

Bahrain has suffered most among the Arab monarchies from the current wave of anti-government protests, with at least 35 people losing their lives during the Gulf state’s so-called Pearl Revolution last spring. And yet, while the regime’s heavy-handed response to the protests has, rightly, attracted international criticism, King Hamad has proved himself to be extremely adroit in dealing with the protesters’ demands.

At his own initiative he set up an independent commission to look into the causes of the disturbances, and when it found that certain individuals had exceeded their authority, he acted accordingly.