Thirteen years have passed since the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, mobilizing millions of protestors in its path. The Arab Spring was a wave of revolts in which many long-oppressed populations rebelled against harsh dictatorial regimes. After the initial ousting of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the movement shifted to Egypt where the nation’s army sided with the protestors. Despite the unprecedented range and momentum of the protests, democracy failed to materialize in every participating country apart from Tunisia. Countries such as Syria descended into a series of destructive civil wars, which led to international terrorist organizations like ISIL seizing the opportunity to gain power for themselves. After the Arab Spring’s ultimate failure to bring about actual long-standing and meaningful change, corrupt dictators and autocrats began ruling with even tighter grips. One country in particular that had a failed rebellion was Bahrain. 

Bahrain, during the Arab Spring, saw mainly Shi’ite protestors demanding more freedom and greater political participation while seeking to resolve issues stemming from contemptuous religious differences between Sunnis and Shias in the country. However, with the help of 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia, the Bahraini government violently crushed the dissenters and the rebellion ended. Bahrain is one of four countries in the Middle East – along with Iran, Iraq, and Syria – where Shia Muslims make up a majority of the total population; Shias only make up approximately 10 percent of the population of the Muslim World as a whole. In Bahrain, Shias comprise approximately 60 percent of the total civilian population; Muslims as a whole make up 74 percent of Bahrain’s population. The division between Sunnis and Shias originated after the Prophet Muhammad's death, with Shias advocating for leadership through his descendants and Sunnis rejecting succession based on his bloodline. Over recent years, this sectarian conflict has pitted regional countries against one another, ultimately prompting Bahrain to forge close ties with their neighbor Saudi Arabia. The central conflict in Bahrain arises from the fact that Bahrain’s ruling royal family is Sunni Muslim and they accordingly have limited the freedom of Shias in the country. This conflict was the foundation for Bahrain’s Arab Spring uprising and has continued to be a source of tension in the country for over a decade. The systematic mistreatment of Shias and related dissenters became harsher and more violent after the 2011 uprising. Widespread allegations of torture, wrongful imprisonment, and the use of torture to extract confessions all emerged after the Arab Spring. These repeated abuses by the Bahrain government have made the country more unstable as the abused population continues to respond. 

In August 2023, hundreds of prisoners in Bahrain’s Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Centre went on a mass hunger strike, indicating pervasive unrest and tension in the country. The strike was instigated due to prison officials blocking inmates from worshiping, imposing daily 23-hour lockdowns, and providing inadequate health care.. Human rights activists have accused this prison of holding dissenters, primarily Shias, that the government detained for opposing the rule of the Al Khalifa royal family in the wake of the Arab Spring. The prisoners' collective action unexpectedly spread outside the prison where protestors spilled into the streets, demanding equality on a national level for the oppressed Shia population. These protests – the first time that Bahrainis had demonstrated in years – exemplify that complaints and frustrations of the citizens that fueled the Arab Spring were never truly resolved, only suppressed. The prisoners ended the month-long strike days before Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s visit to Washington D.C. to sign a landmark economic and security agreement with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The Bahraini government promised the inmates several changes like extended daylight hours and improved healthcare. The hunger strike was one of the longest-maintained demonstrations from the opposition since the 2011 Arab Spring, highlighting the ongoing resistance to the decade-long, harsh crackdown on dissent.

The Bahraini protestors’ latest collective action effort signals trouble for the national government as well as countries of the Muslim World and allies such as the United States. Despite the island country’s small size, its geostrategic location is advantageous both to the nation itself and its allies. For example, Bahrain houses the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet's base which allows the U.S. Navy to project unparalleled power into the Persian Gulf. However, two years ago, an influential Bahraini opposition group demanded the dissolution of the naval base which they believed to be a tool to suppress opposition. Nonetheless, this naval base and American support are necessary for the small Bahraini military to deter aggression from Iran, their main regional adversary; tensions arise between the two states because of the differing sects of Islam that control their respective governments. Over recent years, this sectarian conflict has created a regional cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who are Sunni and Shia, respectively. This conflict has pitted Sunni-ruled countries like Bahrain against Shia-ruled countries such as Iran, creating a wider regional issue with the possibility of it becoming a transregional problem. Iran has been critical of Bahrain’s systematic mistreatment of Shias and any further abuse would likely only exacerbate the situation. Considering this, Bahrain’s strategic partnership with the US is pivotal in countering Iran’s pursuit of hegemony in the Persian Gulf region. This comes during a period of expanded Iranian hostility in which Iran has unveiled new hypersonic missiles and a series of unmanned aerial vehicles. As suggested by the 2023 hunger strike, the Bahraini government could be willing to accommodate the Shia majority’s requests, especially given the early concerns that the U.S. raised over the hunger strike at its outset in August. Due to these increasing religious and regional tensions and America’s desire to maintain a stronghold over this historically unstable region, Bahrain is now a more crucial ally than ever. 

The recent hunger strike and the government's subsequent response prove that the opposition bred in the Arab Spring is still alive and united in Bahrain. However, the journey for oppressed Bahrainis has been trying and is far from over. The Arab Spring had once seemed like just the catalyst needed to finally effectuate change in Bahrain. However, when it was brutally crushed, the Bahraini opposition came out empty-handed and their cries for equality were put on hold. The 2011 uprising ultimately heightened national tensions and resolving these conflicts has proved long and grueling. As regional conflict continues to escalate, it is easy to forget about the internal affairs of this small island country. However, the opposition took a significant step towards social domestic change which could affect the whole Middle East.