Presented by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
Friday, November 30, 2012
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106
On November 23, 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) released a 500-page report providing 26 recommendations for reform in the Kingdom. One year later, the Government of Bahrain has claimed to have implemented most of these recommendations, but many independent observers disagree, regarding the government’s efforts as insufficient and disappointing. Moreover, the political situation in Bahrain has continued to deteriorate, with frequent eruptions of violence including a series of bombings in Manama in early November. The government has also taken a number of repressive steps in recent weeks, including the banning of all public demonstrations and the stripping of 31 opposition figures of their Bahraini citizenship.
On the first anniversary of the BICI report’s release, where do reform efforts stand? And what does the current political crisis in Bahrain mean for U.S. interests and policy in the Middle East more broadly? During President Obama’s second term in office, in what ways should his administration adapt its policy approach to Bahrain? What role do military, economic, and diplomatic relations between the two countries play in the current crisis? What specific steps, if any, can the U.S. take to have a more meaningful, constructive influence in Bahrain?
Please join us for open remarks by:
The Honorable James McGovern
United States Congressman (D-MA)
and a panel discussion with:
Tom Malinowski
Washington Director, Human Rights Watch
Stephen McInerney
Executive Director, Project on Middle East Democracy
Frederic Wehrey
Senior Associate, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Moderator: Carl Gershman
President, National Endowment for Democracy
For a summary of the event, please click here.
