WikiLeaks: Bahrain Prince 'Very Western'

Thanks to WikiLeaks, we now have a look at what the U.S. State Department thinks about Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, with whom the White House has worked this week to end the crackdown on protesters and enter talks with the opposition. A 2009 cable describes him as "very Western in his approach and ... closely identified with the reformist camp within the ruling family.” That’s probably a consequence of his education: a U.S. Defense Department high school in Bahrain and then the American University in Washington. The same cable reveals that one of the protesters’ demands—the resignation of Prime Minister Khalifa bin Sal Al Khalifa—may play into the crown prince’s hands: His father, the king, has already been transferring power from the prime minister, the crown prince’s great uncle.