A two-day conference at the University of Bahrain in the capital Manama last week was intended to show the United States and the region that the Bahraini government is making progress toward democratic governance and addressing the grievances of the country’s majority Shiite population. But the discussions were less than convincing because there was no empirical data or other direct evidence to support the participants’ claims.
Many participants — Bahraini academics, some government officials, and even U.S. congressmen — declared that there has been real progress in the ongoing national dialogue, which began anew this winter between the government and factions within the opposition. The majority Shiite opposition is demanding political and economic rights. The dialogue first began in the spring of 2011, after an uprising by the Shiite-led dominated opposition erupted, and has come and gone since then.
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