US-Saudi love affair

""One particularly awkward flashpoint has been Bahrain, a Shia-majority Gulf nation that is ruled by a Sunni monarchy closely allied with both Riyadh and Washington. The United States has been noticeably silent on Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement and on the monarchy's continued imprisonment of several high-profile activists. There are probably several reasons for this – the United States houses an entire naval fleet in Bahrain – but analysts often portray it as a cost of the Saudi alliance. In 2011, Saudi troops entered Bahrain to help quell the largely peaceful protests.""