Bahrain on the brink

Events in Tunisia and Egypt have left Arab governments worried and Bahrain’s royal family is no exception.

Days of protests came to a violent head on Thursday when a police crackdown left several people dead and scores injured.

Pro-democracy street agitation is not a stranger to Bahrain – there have been protests gping as far back as the early 1990s with opposition forces demanding that the monarchy make room for a more constitutional framework and a much more democratic polity.

Can the monarchy survive this latest round of unrest and what does it all mean for the region?

Inside Story presenter Divya Gopalan discusses with guests: Saeed al-Shihabi of the Bahrain Freedom Movement; Ibrahim Khayat, the director of the International Centre for Strategic Analysis; and Nabeel Rajab, the vice-president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

This episode of Inside Story aired on Friday, February 18, 2011.