aADV 1- 5th FLEET
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Plan: The USFG should increase funding for conferences for youth, media groups, and Non-Governmental organizations aimed towards political reform in Bahrain initially looking at issues of torture and unfair trials. 

Adv 1- Fifth Fleet

Lack of the U.S. enforcing human rights in Bahrain is causing a massive increase of anti-American sentiments among the population threatening our base there  Gengler 11

Justin Gengler, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University in Michigan and former Fulbright Fellow to Bahrain, Foreign Policy “The other side of radicalization in Bahrain”, July 15, 2011, http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/15/the_other_side_of_radicalization_in_bahrain

The rise of … the crisis.

Current instability radicalizes opposition, causes Iran rise and 5th Fleet kick out – action to support democracy is key – Ahmed & Jacobs ‘11

Ali al-Ahmed, Director & Joshua Jacobs, Gulf Policy Analyst at the Institute for Gulf Affairs “The Crisis in Bahrain” Policy Brief May 2011

The US cannot … for the United States.

Scenario 1- Iran Containment

Bahrain’s base is key to contain Iran because of its location – Ahmed and Jacobs 11

Ali al-Ahmed, Director & Joshua Jacobs, Gulf Policy Analyst at the Institute for Gulf Affairs “The Crisis in Bahrain” Policy Brief May 2011

The principle reason … taking a sterner stance.

Containment solves Iran Prolif; it shows resolve which changes Iran’s calculations – Lindsay and Takeyh ‘10

James M. Lindsay is Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations.  Ray Takeyh is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Foreign Affairs Mar/Apr 2010, Vol. 89, Issue 2 “After Iran Gets the Bomb” EBSCO 

Containment could buy Washington … national aspirations.

Most likely scenario for global nuclear war – Kam ‘7

(Ephraim Kam, A Nuclear Iran, Deputy Head, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/memoranda/memo88.pdf)

The serious consequences …  do not yet exist.

Scenario 2- Hegemony

Because of its strategic location the Fifth Fleet is uniquely key to projecting U.S. military power, allowing for a withdraw undermines this goal – Koplovsky 6

Michael Koplovsky, Deputy Chief of Mission @ U.S. Embassy Lusaka, Career Foreign Service Office, October 23, 2006, Precipitating the Inevitable: the Surprisingly Benign Impact of Losing Basing Rights in Bahrain, http://govwin.com/knowledge/ precipitating-inevitable-surprisingly-benign-impact/18387

Former Joint Chiefs … to economic development.

Hegemony solves multiple scenarios for nuclear conflict between nationalist regional hegemons – a multipolar or offshore balancing role is a fantasy – Kagan 7

Robert Kagan, 2007 senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace [“End of Dreams, Return of History”, 7/19, web)

This is a good …. Difficult as it may be to extend American predominance into the future, no one should imagine that a reduction of American power or a retraction of American influence and global involvement will provide an easier path.

ADV. 2- ARAB SPRING
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The failed National Dialogue and recent riots are destabilizing Bahrain proving a revolt is coming without reform – Kinninmont 11r

Jane Kinninmont, Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, Foreign Policy, “Beyond Bahrain's dialogue”, July 18, 2011

Bahrain's National …  gives little ground for optimism in the coming months.

Scenario 1- Unions

Bahrain’s unions are being dismantled but are key because they are progressive – Slaughter 11

Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, “Union Leaders Arrested in Bahrain Crackdown”, May 27. 2011, http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_63075.shtml

Labor Notes: What … federation were fired.

Change that happens in Bahrain spills over the rest of the Middle East and World – Arabic Knowledge 11

Arabic Knowledge@Wharton, Public Policy and Management, “Reform, Not Repression: Lessons from the Deadly Unrest in Libya and Bahrain”, Feb. 23, 2011, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/arabic/article.cfm?articleid=2628

"Domestic Bahraini problems … civil society that can contain those disputes."

That’s key to the global peace movement: Labor emerged as the leader of the global peace movement during the Iraq War – Marshall 4

MARSHALL, chair of the Labor Commission of the Communist Party USA, Political Affairs, “Our Best Defense: Labor and the Anti-war movement”, Jan. 22, 2004, http://www.politicalaffairs.net/our-best-defense-labor-and-the-anti-war-movement/

In response … working people to improve also.

Scenario 2- Saudi-Arabia Iran Instability

Lack of reforms leads to empowerment of hardline extremists resulting in sectarian violence – spills over to the rest of the middle east – Diwan 11

(Kristin Smith, Assistant Professor, American University School of International Service, “The Failed Revolution,” March 31mm)

This outcome is … legitimized such transnational appeals.

Instability in Bahrain will draw in Iran and Saudi Arabia – causes broader regional conflict – Katzman, 7/7

[Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, “Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy”, July 7, 2011, online, CMR]

Well before intervening … on Bahrain’s foreign policy.

Saudi-Arabia/Iran war goes Global – London ‘10

London 10 (Herbert I. London, President of the Hudson Institute, a New York University based political think tank, and professor of Humanities at New York University, Hudson New York, 6/28/10, http://www.hudson-ny.org/1387/coming-crisis-in-the-middle-east)

The coming storm …: if one, falls, the tent collapses.

Solvency
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The status quo approach of quiet diplomacy is failing – the plan by engaging the youth, media, pushing the government for reform, and holding conferences with civil society groups reverses Anti-Americanism AND creates momentum for reform instead of revolt – Project on Middle East Democracy ‘11

Project on Middle East Democracy 11 (6/29, http://pomed.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Tensions_in_the_Persian_Gulf_June_29_20111.pdf, “Tensions in the Persian Gulf – Roundtable Discussion, Participants included: On Wednesday, the Project on Middle East Democracy hosted a panel discussion on recent developments in Bahrain and the impact on political dynamics in the Gulf region. Stephen McInerney, Executive Director, POMED, moderated the discussion. Panelists included Joe Stork, Deputy Director of Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch; Hans Hogrefe, Chief Policy Officer and Washington Director, Physicians for Human Rights; Leslie Campbell, Senior Associate and Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, National Democratic Institute; and Ambassador Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Program, Brookings Institution.)

Stork reiterated the …. foreign policy in the region.

Non-violent youth movements no longer have control – engaging the youth is critical to stop radicalized violent groups from having boots on the ground – International Crisis Group ‘11

International Crisis Group 11 “POPULAR PROTESTS IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST (III): THE BAHRAIN REVOLT” http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iran%20Gulf/Bahrain/105-%20Popular%20Protests%20in%20North%20Africa%20and%20the%20Middle%20East%20-III-The%20Bahrain%20Revolt.pdf, Middle East/North Africa Report N°105 – 6 April 2011

In addition … have since taken the lead.

People in Bahrain are struggling for self determination. Most of this movement has been led by the youth movement who are made up of university students. In order to not lose power the current Regime has responded by calling for help from the GCC who sent in military troops. These troops attacked protestors with live ammunition. Those who were injured were unable to receive medical treatment because the troops also stopped people from entering the hospital- Swami 11

Praveen Swami, Diplomatic Editor, “Bahrain faces ‘war of annihilation’”, The Telegraph, March 16, 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/bahrain/8386240/Bahrain-faces-war-of-annihilation.html

At least three protesters were ……. Shi'a majority by its Sunni rulers.

The youth movement has provided the most serious challenge to the Khalifa family because they have been utilizing different technology tools to organize people and let the rest of the world know what is happening- Slackman 11

Michael Slackman, March 17, 2011, “ Bullets stall youthful push for Arab Spring”, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/middleeast/18youth.html?pagewanted=all

He founded the ….. extensive e-mail list.

One of the first things the regime did to crush the revolution in Bahrain is crackdown on institutions of higher learning. People were interrogated about not if they attended a protest, but rather what their political affiliations were, what their facebook posts were about and if they were loyal to the regime. Students who studied abroad that went to sympathy protests had their funding taken away and their families punished. Many faculty members have been fired and students expelled-Wheeler 11

David L. Wheeler, The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 21 2011, “Bahrain’s Crackdown on Protest Extends to Academe, with interrogations, firings and explusions”, http://chronicle.com/article/Bahrains-Crackdown-Extends-to/127219/

The Bahraini government is conducting ….. 200 employees and students at the University of Bahrain had been punished.

Contention 2- U.S. students

We don’t think it is a coincidence that the University was the first thing targeted in Bahrain. We see a parallel situation developing in the United States. From McCarthy to the Reagan Revolution to the current assault on the academy, we learn that institutions of thought are always the first victims of imperial interventions. 

The twentieth century witnessed a growing divide between those who study the Middle East and those who dictate policy towards it.  What we see is the gradual replacement of intellectual interest with sound bites and conformism.  As Zachary Lockman explains:

(Zachary, “critique from the right: the neo-conservative assault on middle east studies” CR: the new centennial review 5.1 project muse)

But there was a price to be paid for ….. notions many had mistakenly thought dead as a doornail.

In this context, we recognize that we have been produced as consumers of information passed down from the authoritative structures of established knowledge.  We refuse this passivity in affirmation of our student resistance in the here and now. 

Sophia McClennan explains the importance of this resistance:

(Sophia a. college literature, the geopolitical war on us higher education 33.4 project muse)

Consequently, the right's educational agenda ….. fearfulness may very well be our best weapon.

While these two experiences are different we choose to recognize that the stories are tied by their mutual participation in the modern dynamic of imperial knowledge production.

Our juxtaposition of our experience as students and the repression of students in Bahrain demonstrates that imperial and colonial cultures do not develop in isolation. If this an opportunity for repression then it is also an opportunity to acknowledge that colonized and colonizer cultures enrich and compliment each other in important and often unacknowledged ways.  As Edward Said argued,

(edward, prof. comp lit @ Columbia.  Culture and Imperialism 258-261)

Politics—and the frankly political impulse behind their work—……. now being built between anti-imperialist resistance in the peripheries and oppositional culture of Europe and the United States. 

The University is a key site for the recognition of the hybrid contingency of imperial culture.  We ask you to affirm this explorative possibility towards non-imperial ways of knowing.  As Said continues,

(edward, prof. comp lit @ Columbia.  Culture and Imperialism xxv-xxvi)

We are still the inheritors of that style by which ….. enough to admit new groups, then these ideas need changing, a far better thing to do than reject the emerging groups.

Our questioning of U.S. policy towards Bahrain disrupts the empire’s promise project. It is this disruption of complicity that allows us to form solidarities with the youth who have been have been oppressed by the us imperial project.

Anna M. Agathangelou, 2008M. Daniel Bassichis, and Tamara L. Spira, 2008. “Intimate Investments: Homonormativity, Global Lockdown, and the Seductions of Empire” Accessed August 17, 2010

In the place of this vision, we …… relations based in collectivity and healing.