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Elizabeth Dickinson is a journalist based in the Arabian Peninsula. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Foreign Policy, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and The Financial Times, among others. Currently Middle East editor and correspondent for Monitor Global Outlook, a start up of the Christian Science Monitor, she is a former Gulf correspondent for The National, assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy, and Nigeria correspondent for The Economist.
As Bahrain’s newly elected parliament convened for the first time last week, the island nation stands divided. The Shi‘a-dominated opposition boycotted last month’s elections and will be outside the political system for the foreseeable future, leaving little prospect for the community’s political advancement. Meanwhile, the predominantly Sunni electorate participated strongly in the polls and will move forward alone on a series of reforms and priorities that are most important to their community.
