Hussein Ibish looks at it:
Neither the Shiite majority nor the ruling family and its Sunni supporters are going to go away or give up. Indeed, given Bahrain's small size and population, as well as its economic and security dependence on its neighbors, in the long run, they need each other to survive. The real existential struggle in Bahrain is not an ongoing sectarian conflict, but rather to find a win-win mechanism for workable, sustainable coexistence. Otherwise, a disastrous lose-lose scenario will become more and more likely. It's difficult to say what, exactly, will happen in Bahrain if it continues down this path, but it's likely to be far worse for everyone involved than any negotiated settlement possibly could be.
W. Andrew Terrill advocates an international dialogue between American and Bahraini authorities as the best way for the US to help the revolutionaries.
The Dish 