The US and the new Middle East: The Gulf

Fault Lines’ Seb Walker travels to the Persian Gulf to look at US policy in the region, and to explore why the US has taken an interventionist policy in Libya, but not in Bahrain, where there has been a brutal crackdown on protesters. Why does the White House strongly back democracy in one Arab country, but not another?  

Fault Lines travelled to Bahrain to hear from those who had been protesting, to ask them what they think about the lack of real US pressure on their country’s rulers. The country is also home to the US 5th Fleet, where Fault Lines gained exclusive access to the USS Ronald Reagan, an American aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf.

The film traces the US’ response to the protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and examines how the stability of oil prices, the steady supply of crude, and concerns over Iran have affected America’s response.