tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post4875264694457821035..comments2023-09-07T03:20:24.100-07:00Comments on Revolutions and Political Violence: Bahrain’s Eventful Week: Protests, International Races, Human Rights Abuses, and Promising Economic OpportunitiesMichael Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669512353829041768noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-3395824846987271672013-05-02T19:10:12.665-07:002013-05-02T19:10:12.665-07:00I agree with Lindsay, the resilience of these prot...I agree with Lindsay, the resilience of these protesters will eventually win, it just takes time. The odds are definitely in their favor, according to Chenoweth and Stephan, 1 and 4 nonviolent campaigns, since 1900, have failed. And those campaigns failed due to their inability to overcome the participation problem, i.e. the failure to recruit a strong and diverse group that can help erode the foundation of their opponent and maintain resilience in the face of oppression. That's a relatively high success rate, patience is just key. Violent repression against nonviolent movements has a tendency to backfire on the regime. What isn't helping their cause is the polarization between the violent and nonviolent protests in the country. Molly Hepworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13679355379962481671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-46476803832923245162013-04-30T09:19:54.439-07:002013-04-30T09:19:54.439-07:00Trying to present the protestors as terrorists is ...Trying to present the protestors as terrorists is unfortunately nothing new for the Bahraini regime/press. Since the beginning of the protests, the regime has presented the protests through a sectarian lens rather than a democracy-aspiring lens, and stretched it further to say that Iran was behind the protests ideologically and perhaps even in material support (tires? molotov cocktail recipes?--there is no evidence of that at this point). As people have been saying here, anything to make the protestors look bad and the regime look good they will jump on, and unfortunately, it seems make up. The point is that this is nothing new, or particularly shocking--the regime has a lot of practice with it. Michael Parrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04387713323847042343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-14870052642456630072013-04-29T10:20:56.301-07:002013-04-29T10:20:56.301-07:00Even though mass protests in Bahrain seem to be yi...Even though mass protests in Bahrain seem to be yielding few positive results, I commend the protesters. In the face of torture and arrest many people are still willing to fight for what they believe in. This strength employed by the protests will most likely result in concessions in the near future. In fact research by Chenoweth and Stephan find that even when nonviolence fails there is still a 35 percent probability that of the state becoming a democracy in the next five years. These are not the best odds but they give the protesters something to motivate them. Nonviolence protest can yield positive results it just never happens over night. Lindsay Wilcockshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00599192023838757065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-84191227779183338392013-04-28T21:12:51.718-07:002013-04-28T21:12:51.718-07:00I was just reading the gulf post today and agree t...I was just reading the gulf post today and agree that it really isn't surprising that Bahrain is trying to cover up the oppression and violence that's being inflicted upon the citizens. If the Bahraini media does talk about the violence going on its always in a negative light, where "rionters" are harming police officers or other government or military officiants.Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08094922449179854922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-18577011543527747022013-04-28T18:06:38.568-07:002013-04-28T18:06:38.568-07:00I'm not really surprised to read that the Bahr...I'm not really surprised to read that the Bahraini state is using the media to hide accusations of violence and terror against their people with focuses on stories of job creation and economic growth nor am I surprised when called out for these abuses of human rights that the state would find another country, the U.S. here, to distract people. The state is in a very precarious position. They are maintaining power only because the international community, the Gulf states, have continued to help prop them up. Otherwise, I feel that these protests would have had a much larger impact for the people after two years. As long as Bahrain maintains such a high level of support from their strong neighbors I don't see the people having much luck in creating change. I'm skeptical as well to believe the reports of the government about the attempted bombings of the Formula One race by protestors. It's just a good way for the government to vilify the actions of protestors and make their use of violent measures seems justify to the rest of the world. Everyone responds well to a brave police officer who prevented a horrific act from occurring so stories like this give the state good press.Kristina Jenningshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862608945657594560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042587494012331021.post-40908651168718706602013-04-27T01:43:48.575-07:002013-04-27T01:43:48.575-07:00 I think that the Bahraini people are in a very to... I think that the Bahraini people are in a very tough situation. They essentially have no way of defeating their oppressive government since it is powerful, wealthy, and backed by Saudi Arabia. It is interesting that these Bahraini women were attempting a terrorist attack with their “dry run” intended to sneak a future petroleum or fire extinguisher bomb in a crowded high profile formula one race. <br /> This brings up an interesting point. Clearly there is no way for the population to overcome their suppressors, so is terrorism an effective means of last resort? Terrorism is the weapon of the weak, and these girls could have made a big statement if successful. Just one bomb set off in a heavily packed area has potential for causing extreme damage as we saw in the Boston marathon bombing last week. The damage at the Formula One track could have caused chaos and attracted international attention. Regardless of any pros the women could have gained in destabilizing their government would have been lost in the international community’s inevitable condemnation of their terrorist strategies. The damage caused any form of indiscriminant killing such as this would make the opposition look like an organized terrorist group which would lend the regime more power to use force in the view of the international, as this could be framed as using force against terrorists (this is what Bashir al-Assad is claiming he is doing now in Syria). <br /> The fact is that the Bahraini regime is strong and wealthy in addition to having very strong and powerful allies in the region. As a result of this I do not see the protests in Bahrain accomplishing anything I do not see freedom for this country in the near future. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11157204420651667286noreply@blogger.com