End proxy wars

Caught in this power struggle are the oppressed people of the Middle East. Bahraini protestors have paid a heavy cost of overt Iranian state and media support for the uprising. Bahrain matters more for Iran due to the presence of 5th Fleet of the US Navy in the strategically located Island. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' fresh tour to the Gulf State, which received $20million last year in military assistance, would clearly be seen as a provocation.

While the ruling dynasty may be Sunni and allied to Saudi Arabia, Bahrainis predominantly practice Shiite Islam. Moreover, Bahrain matter more for Iran due to the presence of 5th Fleet of the US Navy in the strategically located Island.

To influence balance of power favorably, both the oil-rich Muslim nations are looking at the ongoing uprisings through the sectarian prism. As much as Saudi Arabia protects the regime in Manama and Sana’a, Iran is going any lengths to safeguard the status quo in the states ruled by likeminded tyrants. Except Tunisia and Egypt, while regimes may not have been toppled elsewhere in the Middle East or North Africa, their iron grip has weakened at varying degrees.

The Muslim nations in the (Arabian or Persian) Gulf have two choices for change; the democratic way or the Osama bin Laden way. The world powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran have no right to manipulate the outcomes of the self-motivated movements for democracy. Any covert or overt intervention runs the risks of bloodshed and instability, the least of which the world can afford no more.