Page 128 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

114 Records of Bahrain

5
or the right sorvico similar terms must he

offorod to those paid hy competitors.
4. Bahrain has-1 feel reached a turning point
in its history. A period of peaceful development
and prosperity over the last 20 years, brought
about by the discovery of oil here, is ending.

From the matorial angle Bahrain* s prosperity soems
likely either to decrease in the future or at best
to remain at its present level for some ten or
fifteen years longer. But the surrounding countries
are still on the crest of the wave and their prosperity
is likely to increase for some time to come. From
the political angle the peace of the past twenty

years has already been disturbed by the agitations
of last year, which will 1 fear continue to be a
problem. The nationalism v/hich has permeated the
;
! whole Middle East has at length affected Bahrain,
the more actively perhaps because many Bahrainis

see the hitherto profitable entrepot trade with
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other places in the Gulf
threatened by these places wishing to import direct
from abroad. This prospect of a lessened prosperity
for many individuals thus tends to make their
demands on their own government more insistent.
5. It seems to me therefore that we can look
forward to a period of unsettled conditions in
Bahrain, both economic and political - that is,

/compared!