Egypt. Tunisia. Libya. Yemen. Syria. Bahrain. Each of these countries took some part in what has become known as the “Arab Spring,” a wave of demonstrations and protests against governments in the Middle East. But wait, Bahrain?

On Oct. 6, Guilford welcomed three officials from the embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain who led a panel discussion on their country’s recent participation in the Arab Spring.

The presentation began with an introduction from Vice President for Enrollment Services Randy Doss, who explained the nature of the visit and what it meant for Guilford.

“The strategic plan of Guilford asks us to dramatically increase the presence of international students at Guilford between now and 2016,” said Doss. “The idea is to give all of our students a real-world experience in the college setting by adding students with different life experiences globally.”

Aysha Murad, cultural counselor of the embassy, began the presentation by describing Bahrain as a truly open society in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, where women have rights and the people are very welcoming.

“Bahrain is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, cosmopolitan and open culture,” said Murad. “However, the recent occurrences will only serve to jeopardize the progress that Bahrain has made after our King introduced political reforms 10 years ago.”

After going through an abridged history of Bahrain, Murad said that most people in the United States had never even heard of the country before the demonstrations earlier this year. Murad also said that anything they heard about the protests came from “negative, one-side media coverage that believe they know all the facts.”

On Feb. 14, protests began in the Bahraini capital of Manama, and the Shia-majority population demanded social and political reform from the Al-Khalifas, the Sunni royal family who govern the country. However, according to the BBC, several people were killed after police attacked the peaceful demonstrators.

“Since the Iraq war started, the Western media played a lot on the Shia-Sunni division,” said Zhihong Chen, assistant professor of history. “This in a way fueled the tension between Shia and Sunni.”

Rose Sager, the trade representative for the embassy, discussed the economy of Bahrain, describing it as the freest market in the Middle East, while also acting as its financial hub. Sager attempted to persuade the audience to explore the numerous employment opportunities that the country offers.

“Many people came to Bahrain for better work after the discovery of oil in the 1930s, just like they come to the United States today,” said Sager. “And although we were the first to discover oil, we had to diversify our economy because we were also the first to run out of it.”

Finally, Dr. Saqer Al-Khalifa, media attaché for the embassy, continued the discussion of Bahrain’s role in the Arab Spring.

Al-Khalifa, who is a member of the Bahraini royal family, described the initial demonstrations as very peaceful and as a result of this, the king was willing to grant the requests of the protestors. He contrasted Bahrain with other countries like Egypt and Libya, where the people wanted a whole new government instead of just social changes. He said that in Bahrain, when the people asked for change, they seemed to get what they want.

However, some members of the audience were skeptical of the way Al-Khalifa addressed the events.

“His account was that of a true diplomat; he discussed the past events in such a way that was factually correct,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous. “However, he portrayed what happened in a way that does not seem as horrible as the press made it out to be.”

A student in the audience asked the panel what their opinion of the role of social media in the Arab Spring and in Bahrain was.

“Social media is a very important tool that can be used in many way,” said Al-Khalifa. “But there needs to be constraints and regulations on social media, so it isn’t used for the wrong reasons.”

Although Al-Khalifa believes it might be a good idea to limit the use of Facebook and Twitter, he said that the Kingdom of Bahrain is continuing to improve any social issues that its people address, in spite of criticism.

“It is important for Americans to understand that there is a difference between Bahrain and the oppressive governments in the Middle East,” said Al-Khalifa. “Our small size is no reflection of our beliefs and priorities.”