The Winds of the Apocalypse

Timothy Birdnow:

There is talk of an ultimatum being issued by Shiite Iran to the House of Saud, demanding they stop assisting the Bahrainian royals in their efforts to suppress a Shia revolution.

What does this mean?

Generally speaking, an ultimatum means war, at least in situations involving medieval states such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. If Iran issues such an ultimatum the Saudis would be bound to ignore it because should they obey they would be opening the door to revolution inside the Arabia itself. It must be understood that the Saudis have but a tenuous hold on power in Arabia, and their intervention in Bahrain – a puny kingdom on the coast of Arabia – was absolutely necessary to avoid revolution across the peninsula.

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