Bahrain-Group+A

**Part I-A Look at the Nation**

· Demographics:
·Total Population: 1,214,705 · Median Age Total: 30 years Men: 32 years Women: 28 years  · Race/Ethnicity  Bahraini: 62.4% Non-Bahraini: 37.6%

 · Religion: Muslim (Shia and Sunn) 81.2%, Christian 9%, Other 9.8%

**· Geography**
· Climate: Mild, pleasant winters; Very hot, humid summers · Terrain: Mostly low desert plains rising gently to central escarpment · Area: 760 sq km

**· Economic Resources**
· Imports: Crude Oils, Machinery, Chemicals  · Exports: Petroleum account for more than 60% of Bahrain's export receipts. Other major economic activities are production of aluminum- Bahrain's 2nd biggest export after oil.  · Typical Jobs: Agriculture 1%, Industry 79%, Services 20%. Unemployment is a big problem Bahrain struggles with.

**· Political structure**
· Type of Government: Constitutional Monarchy- System of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government. · Elections; - Legislative: Council of Representatives has elections every 4 years - Judicial: High civil appeals court - Executive: The Monarchy is heredity; Prime minister appointed by the Monarch

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/
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__**1971-** __Bahrain declares independence from the British, and Sunni King Al- Khalifa comes into power.
 * Part II-Timeline**

__**1975** -__ The Amir (Chief) disbanded the National Assembly after it attempted to legislate the end of Al-Khalifa rule and the expulsion of the U.S. Navy. __1900s-__ Through this time period, there were many violent protests due to the resentment of the Shia Majority in a Sunni country.

**__1999__-** Al- Khalifa dies, and his son comes into power. 25 year long, state of emergency, ended. Newly elected Parliament put into place with a <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">constiution.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">__**2001**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Al-Khlalifa creates a constitution and appoints a legislative government, which he has been promising people for many years. But there since the majority of the government is Sunni, the Shittes boycott the election of 2002.(nytimes.com) =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> =

=__2011__=
 * ** February **
 * Protesters flood into the nation's center, Pearl Square. Police stopped the riots and left five people dead and 200 wounded.
 * Government military opens fire on the mourners in Pearl Square to show their stance against the rioting. People started to riot again over the government and the opposing party made, the King make a public apology for the killing of six people.
 * Slide Show of the Mourning. []
 * Pro-democracy protest occurred, and became one of the biggest protests the country of Bahrain has ever seen.
 * Exiled leader returns, and took to the streets again followed by thousands of citizens protesting for a 'successful revolution'.
 * ** March **
 * A group of Shiites took to the media central of the country, and broadcasted their opinion the government. The defense secretary of the country told the royal family that the reform process needs to happen now, or else Iran may get involved and that would cause more trouble for this country and its people.
 * Troops from Saudi Arabia entered into Bahrain to help with the implementation of martial law. The king declared a three month state of emergency in Bahrain.
 * Trying to get rid of the protesters in Pearl Square once again. Rioting police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and some live ammunition to ride out the protesters that were sleeping there. (nytimes.com)

<span style="color: #007cff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: right;">**1**(The Best)-**5**(The Worst) **<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Protection (Protects People's Natural Rights) #5 ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">This purpose of government is not doing so well. Women are deprived of their rights. Women can't drive, vote, or work without the approval from men. Women have natural rights just as much as men do. Everyone should be treated equally, but that isn't shown in Bahrain. “Women are raised to fear men and to fear speaking out,” said Mona al-Ahmed. Whenever a spouse wants to divorce his or her spouse they must go through many court proceeding. Men in Bahrain can simply tell his wife that they are getting a divorce and it's over. However, a women must go and file in court and risk losing her children. In the United States, when a man and woman divorce custody is in most cases granted to the mother. In Bahrain however, custody is mainly granted to the father.(www.bloomberg.com)
 * Part III-Legitimacy and the Current Leader & Government**
 * <span style="color: #40ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Keeping Order (Ensuring That Rules And Regulations Are Followed) #1 **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The government is trying to keep order in Bahrain. Saudi Arabian troops are being sent over in the thousands to try and stop the protesters. They cannot have these protesters demolish the government and have even more chaos be done. With armed troops they believe that citizens will stop with the uprisings. (www.israelnationalnews.com) The government in Bahrain may not be the strongest but it is enforcing the laws, whether they be fair or not. If a women commits any sort of adultery, she will be executed. The ruler of Saudi Arabia is trying to change the laws but things just aren't working out so far. There are laws in place and if not followed the citizens know that there will be consequences. Some may even be as brutal as death.(www.bloomberg.com)

<span style="color: #ff00de; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">In Bahrain there is somewhat a court and legal system but it's harsher on women then it is on men. When a women for example wants a divorce, she has to file all the paper work and go to court. The judge will decide the custody of the children which is usually given to the father. (www.bloomberg.com) In Bahrain there are also military courts but only military offenses can be brought upon in there. (www.nationsencyclopedia.com) Executions are very commonly known. Women are most often executed because courts are harsher on women because they are not respected and given rights to.
 * <span style="color: #ff00de; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Solving Conflict (Government Serves As Mediators, Laws, Courts) #2 **

<span style="color: #8800ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**﻿Good Economy (People Have Jobs, Dollars Has Some Value) #4** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The Bahrain government was prospering because of it's oil and the demand for it. Bahrain is the second largest oil producer in the world! Things started to take a turn for the worse in 2006-2009 because they started making agreements and trades with the U.S. to boost their economy. Bahrain is started to become slowly in debt because of big government projects. The global crisis stopped projects which slowed down economic growth in Bahrain. Another way that Bahrain started to lose it's money was because of the protesters. The protesters destroyed many things that needed to be repaired and had to bring in reinforcements. The unemployment rate in Bahrain is 15%. (www.cia.gov)

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">** ﻿ ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">There a <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"> re many law enforcement agents in Bahrain. Although, when the protests began Bahrain began to call in more people to help put a stop to the chaos. In 1919 Bahrain made a free public education system. Most children are well educated in Bahrain, but it is becoming harder now that their economy is starting to do poorly. (www.nationsencyclopedia.com)
 * <span style="color: #ff6800; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Services (Education, Police, Military) #3 **

<span style="color: #ff1000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">**Is the Bahrain Leader and Government Legitimate?** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">The Bahrain government and leader do in fact appear legitimate. Some people may say that it isn't because women don't have rights. That's true but the King is trying to change that and hopefully he will. The government meets almost all the five requirements to be considered a stable government. Bahrain could definitely do many things to improve their country but so could many countries. This government and its leader are working and trying to do what is best.

=<span style="color: #ff1000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">**Revolt** = <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The Shiite majority were the ones to revolt. Also two members of the national soccer team were arrested for attending the anti government protest. Also, many people joined in on the protest, including Religious leaders, and opposing political parties. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The people revolted, along with the other countries, Libya and Egypt but their reasons were different. In Bahrain, the majority is Shiite ( a branch of the Islamic faith), in other middle eastern countries the Shiites are the minority. Bahrainian government and monarchy is highly populated with Sunnis, because of this the Shiites feel like they need more repersentation in their government. The revolution, took place because it had been many years and the King, will not listen to his people, he does not repersent his people in the government. (nytimes.com)
 * Part IV-Current Uprising**

<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: normal;">**Organization** <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: normal;">﻿The Bahrain protesters organized using the Internet. They helped organize everything had a personally website which had a layout of each protest. When the government found out about this they shut down the web page instantly. After that, the group moved on to using the internet. Facebook as another primary source to connect with each other. The government ended up finding about that too and shut it down. There were leaders who were organizing this. ( www.wikipedia.com )

<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #ff6800; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: normal;">**Overthrowing the Government** <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: normal;">﻿The protesters are not trying to use violence. They are using signs, and marches to get people's attention and the media's. A protester was shot in the head by security because he tried to march up to the main square. They are not taking over government buildings or assassinating their leaders. The security is not on their side, their on the leaders side. Their protests are working however because 18 members from the Parliament resigned. The Bahrain Parliament only holds 40 people. ( www.washingtontimes.com )

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