Saudi Arabian troops enter Bahrain as regime asks for help to quell uprising

[Sheilbh]

Alas it seems the Arab revolution has not only stalled but started rolling back. I knew those people going on about a wave of democracy sweeping across the region were talking out of their arse but...I expected a bit more at least.

Not necessarily.  Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Yemen and Jordan still have developments (Yemen far more than the rest) and there's reports of some protests cohering in Syria.  I think something's changed within the Arab world - also it's a bit rich to say you expected more when by far the most populous Arab state's had a successful revolution.  My sense is that this may stall but only in the way that Solidarity didn't succeed in the early eighties.

And Libya and Bahrain seem like outliers.  I can't say I've read anything that strikes me as understanding Libya.  I think Gaddafi only legalised the learning of foreign languages 20 years ago, so it's a very closed society that I don't think anyone's got a read on yet, it's a bit of a mystery - I think the same goes for Oman to an extent.  Bahrain's got the sectarian element, the Iranian-Saudi element too.  But more importantly, it's hard to see the Saudis allowing any revolution to succeed there.

[Warspite]

Bahrain a "regime".  LOL.

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