When it comes to great upheavals, the sport of motor racing fades into nothingness – even if there is big money involved. In time of war, Grand Prix racing stops. This is how it should be because we need to remember sometimes that F1 may have made Bernie Ecclestone and others very rich, and it is a big business, but it is still a game. And sometimes games have to stop while serious business is dealt with.
The goings-on in Bahrain at the moment are very sad. In recent years I have grown to like the place and I think that most of the people I have met are desperately keen for Bahrain to be a modern society. Unfortunately, most of these people come from the ruling élite. We have known that there is another side to the story for many years and in 2006, I wrote the following short piece, which is worth recalling:
“In Bahrain we managed to get mixed up in a riot one evening as we tried to get back to the hotel. The policemen who placed a cordon in all directions were very polite and all explained that there was “a problem” and that we could not enter the area. No-one would tell us the problem. Eventually, I got out of the car and went to talk to a policeman who looked more important than the others and having explained the problem and shown him the press pass, I was whisked away by a man in plain robes who said “Follow me” and proceeded to find a way through the barricades. The policemen saluted and we were through the cordon. When we pulled up outside the hotel we said thank you (like nice polite boys) and asked him what he did for a living. He smiled and sped off into the night in his Toyota Land Cruiser with darkened windows. It was obvious from this that the Bahrain authorities would do pretty much anything to make sure that the international press had positive thoughts about the place…
“On the day after the Grand Prix, as we sat around in Bahrain, killing time before our flight to Malaysia, we decided to do something that the circuit people have obviously never considered: we took a tour of Bahrain. Away from the rising modern splendours of Manama, which hint at the ambition of the place, we found little to get excited about. There were a couple of old forts dating back to days when this was a place of pearls and pirates, but otherwise there was just a lot of sand. Things are moving on rapidly, construction is everywhere but in the older poor areas there were an alarming number of black Shia flags on display. In the south of the island there is nothing but sand, a few vast and well-guarded estates on the water, where the really really rich live, including Michael Jackson, so they say. And out there somewhere in the sand is a large military airbase which signs encouraged us NOT to visit.”
So what is happening now? As a student of history – a while back now – I cannot help but think that we are seeing the Arab world’s equivalent of 1848, when most of Europe was suddenly plunged into revolution for a number of different reasons. Technological change was altering the lives of the working classes, ideas were flowing more, thanks to increased press freedom, and new ideas such as nationalism and socialism were beginning to develop. There was economic hardship. There was revolution in France, ending the reign of Louis Philippe and creating the Second Republic; there were a series of rising across Germany, demanding German unification and freedom of the press; in Denmark the new king had to give way and accept reforms demanded by the people, a new constitution was drafted; Belgium rose up as well. Polish nobles rebelled, complaining about royal absolutism, then they found thsemselves being slaughtered by unhappy peasants; the Habsburg Empire ran into big trouble with risings in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and elsewhere. There was even a brief civil war in Switzerland, which ended with the country becoming a federal state.
In the overall scheme of things most of the rebellions of 1848 were not successful, but they led to longer term changes as the ruling classes of Europe began to understand that they had to react positively or be forced out at a later date.
I wonder if anyone in Bahrain has read any European history books. It might not be a bad idea.
As George Santayana wrote in his “Reason in Common Sense, The Life of Reason”.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Fantastic piece.
A timely piece, and thank you for it. There can be no more patience for those who say that F1 is somehow neutral, that the politics of the place is beneath the great venture that is Bernie and the team principals making money, of the multinational companies increasing their global recognition. By visiting places such as Bahrain and China with their vast glamorous panoply of technology and consumption the F1 teams lend credibility to oppressors and dictators. This is immoral.
On another point – do you see 1848 as a slight seismic realignment between the great earthquakes of 1815 and 1914/1939? A harbinger. It was interesting that London was the only capital in Europe that did not see riots in 1848, but then we had had the Chartists in 1838.
Joe, did you see the Egyptian man who said ‘thanks Facebook’ when being interviewed after Mubarak stepped down? I bet Mark Zuckerberg never envisioned his poky little website contributing to the downfall of leaders of state.
Great piece Joe, a welcome dose of perspective. Does it matter if the Bahrain GP is cancelled? No.
Very interesting perspective on the matter Joe.
Quit a lot of parrallels with the current situation. Looks like the people there might make it stick, in the end.
Would blow CVC’s plans for a rebonding to pull even more money out, but that is the least of our concerns.
I think that CVC has a few more things to worry about than just Bahrain. Gerhard Gribkowsky…
In any case:
No Concorde Agreement = no guarantees = no money from investors = time to negotiate with the FIA and the teams
JamesF1, actually he might have been dreaming of just this after the first success with Facebook.
Must feels a lot better than just making a lot of money, actually giving people means to speak up.
Very interesting – thank you.
Probably right Joe.
They must be wondering, why how they got into this! Looks like having the F1 rights has not really turned out for the good for anyone (accept Bernie himself, although who knows weather he is happy).
- Kirch went bankrupt, Bayerische LB and Lehman went bust.
Now CVC is involved in a corruption case just when they need to regotiat the Concorde agreement and on top of that the revenues are looking pretty unsecure from the GP organisers side lately.
Is it a sign something is wrong with how these rights are handled?
I appreciate your point of view Joe but I would like to add a couple of things.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat”. The problem with Arabic leaders is that they use the past to develop new tactics in order to keep their people under their control. Most of them are convinced that democracy is the way in the long term but for them their rule shouldn’t be included in that long term and they do whatever they can to keep the control. Mubarak learned some lessons from Ben Ali fall by shutting down internet for few days. It wasn’t enough though ! All arabic dictators are trying to develop new tactics in order to contain the protests. In Algeria, in order to to contain last week’s contests they stopped trains bus and stopped traffic on highways. They brought more policemen than protesters in Algiers.
No leader upto know has taken even a shy step towards democracy as a reaction to the wave of protests. They either change government cabinet or try to keep prices from increasing further damaging country’s finances. The problem is that it’s not only a leader issue, it’s a whole system who has to change and a lot of powerful people don’t want it to change and they push their leader to keep things running the same way. Sadly, only huge and probably deadly protests can shift the balance.
The saddest example is Jordan where people aren’t calling for the King to step down. They only want more democracy, more freedom added to economical demands but even he isn’t willing to take steps towards them. If he doesn’t take those steps, how can you imagine a president who will loose his power, his advantages and might even be judged afterwards would take those steps.
The King of Jordan Abdallah II is a man who studied (Oxford and Gerogetown) and spent many years in the West.
I suspect the same thing will happen with the concorde agreement that happens every time it comes up for renewal/ renegotiation or whatever…. there will be a huge game of brinkmanship that will lead to at least one of the big teams threatening to walk away from the sport unless they get whatever it is they say they want…. followed by my talks, more threats, missed/postponed deadlines e.t.c. until at ‘the last’ minute a deal is worked out that will give everyone plenty of things to argue about in the future….. Thats just F1.
However I do think that we are in for a very interesting season in terms of a very different kind of politics. F1 is a major international sport with serious international media attention focused on it, Bernie has also made a big thing of trying to tie F1 races into National governments and really tried to sell that idea… making F1 a huge target for political unrest now that people are seething….
Just look at the money that it costs to buy a GP now, and look at the countries that have bought GPs (costing billions) in order to raise their international status… Bahrain is just the 1st of the season… I look down the calendar and country after country pops out and points out that their are all sorts of unpleasant things (not always corrupt) going on behind the scenes and can’t help but wonder…..
Great article Joe, cheers.
Joe – has F1 ever taken a stand in political terms? I’m thinking about somewhere like South Africa and Apartheid.
SJ,
I have answered this elsewhere on the blog. Try searching for “apartheid”
Brilliant piece, Joe. It’s probably too late for the Kings and sultans to start studying history.
In fact, there’s only one real point that you havn’t touched on: the role that exposure to the outside world has had in fostering the revolutionary attitudes now finding expression, via the internet and via visitors to the country, including the F1 circus and all who follow it.
Every positive impression that a journalist or a tourist makes on an ordinary citizen contributes to the groundswell of public opinion. F1 brought you and them to Bahrain, so it can hardly be implied that the presence of F1 is purely a statement of support for the existing regime, as some have tried to suggest.
There comes a time when people grow tired of being considered medieval in a modern society, I’m sure, and that’s also a comment that gets bandied about a lot when the middle east gets discussed. So if the citizenry are finally undergoing the social and cultural metamorphosis that commenced in the West with the industrial revolution, there are those who would suggest that it is not before time; and it’s a hard point to argue against.
My sympathies are reserved for anyone who is hurt or injured on either side.
The silly thing is that this could have been peacefully and calmly settled, but the existing powers have – as you wrote in a different post – enflamed the situation. The longer it drags on, the more the reformists will demand before achieving satisfaction, and the less willing the existing administration will be to grant it. Escalation is, I fear, now inevitable.
A lot of people have seen this coming. Practically all of the desert states are run the same way. The ruling classes throw huge amounts of money around for their own pleasure and the poor masses live off the crumbs.
It’s not too different to how F1 is being run by someone who’s put many GPs into great financial trouble, by extracting the maximum amount of money out of them, but then spends £100m on a couple of houses for his kids.
How many of the new GPs will be able to continue without their subsidy from iffy regimes? Few, if any, have enough paying spectators to carry on, if their goverments are forced to spread their money more widely.
Don’t be surprised if Turkey isn’t the next country to have an Angry Day.
Should it happen, he loss of the Bahrain race from the calendar is no loss at all. In fact, to call it a “race” is to insult those tracks who actually do hold real races at their venues.
Not once has the Bahrain meeting produced anything more than a dull race and a lot of back-slapping from those involved in F1 at what a “wonderful venue” it is.
And because we are constantly told every year by those who attend; I am sure the facilities are marvellous, that the press are treated well and offered wonderful air-conditioned offices. I have no doubt that those who attend the track on race day have a great time marvelling at the modern layout and the awe-inspiring grandstands.
I also have no doubt that there’s not one real F1 fan in the world who couldn’t care less that this farce of an event may not be happening this year.
Could you validly extend the 1848 example and add 1968 ?
Canehan,
The activity in 1968 was less widespread but it did lead to changes in attitude. One could argue the same for 1830, 1918, 1940-something and possibly 1956 as well… and fo course the 1989 adventures in Eastern Europe.
Another great piece.
Now, will some one please tell me why the hell I am getting a better sense of what’s going on in this region from a F1 blog than the main media? Not just this blog, but F1 blogs and F1 news articles in general. I mean, you’ve even included some historical context.
In an attempt to be fair to the main media, is it easier for F1 journalists to get in to the country than normal journalists, or something?
I do wonder how these none democratic leaders who wanted F1 to promote the good side of their countries feel when F1 is now showing up the bad side? Bet that wasn’t part of the deal.
While I accept that the concepts of ethics and morality are alien concepts to F1, how can F1 rub wealth and technology in the faces of those who suffer under non democratic regimes? It aint gonna look good if the military are fighting off protesters as F1 cars whiz round and round. On the other had, it would be huge international spot light.
ACr,
I think it is because F1 journalists do not have to worry about the authorities (ie: future sources etc). It is the same in reverse. General media can write more openly about F1 because they come in, churn out something that looks sensible and do not worry whether they upset people… Sometimes this stuff is total rubbish (general sports writers are often experts at getting it completely wrong), but sometimes they hit the nail on the head.
Great analysis and a fitting comparison!
To Jonno
I would be very surprised if Turkey would have an Angry Day! Turkey is a democracy and is spoken of as a good model for the Arab countries to look at in creating their new societies.
Fascinating, thanks.
2011 might well be the Arabic 1848; it’s only February and we’re already two down.
Another good history quote, by the way, from Mark Twain I think; ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes.’
Thank you Joe, and well said Richard Smith.
“No Concorde Agreement = no guarantees = no money from investors = time to negotiate with the FIA and the teams”
I found this comment very interesting Joe, Is there any chance that you may expand on the subject and write an entire article on how the Concorde negotiations take place and what we can expect out of them in the near future. I assume 2013 is an important year with all the changes taking place in the sport and Bernie would certainly want to capitalize on this to bring in new teams and more importantly, new money.
This and the re-post of Will’s comments is why I love this blog and why I love F1.
I have your blog next to the NY Times in Google reader but 9 times out of 10 you present the information in a more readable and understandable way. That doesn’t mean simple, it means you place it in a context which is hard for larger media groups to do since they have a very wide audience.
Joe, glad to see someone else is seeing echoes of 1848. Think I’m going to get Raymond Postgate’s book out tonight…
Incidentally, look at @NickKristof ‘s tweets today. Surely there is no way the Bahrain GP will go ahead…
This is a GREAT article Joe! Keep it up.
Joe, thanks for the posts on the Bahrain situation. As ACr said, I seem to be getting more news from F1 sites than from mainstream media. Says something about media, I think.
To me, all these Middle East uprisings have been overdue for a while. Repressing people for generations usually results in revolt. I just hope it ends up as bloodless as possible. I also hope the people get the reform they are looking for and not some hijacked revolution like happened in Iran.
As for the Bahrain race, it seems inevitable it will be cancelled/postponed. Hopefully, Bernie will make a decision soon, so alternate plans can be implemented.
Joe,
what would be the consequences if the Bahrain GP gets cancelled, for the F1 season I mean. I assume that for contractual and logistical reasons and many others that I cant think of, the race can’t be replaced with another venue or swap dates with another of the races in the calendar.
Does the season just basically begins at Australia and that is that?
Oh my goodness, those tweets from @NickKristof (thanks Ash) paint a truly horrific picture. I don’t think I would even be comfortable watching the Bahrain GP now (on TV), even if it did go ahead.
By the way, some brilliant columns you’ve written over the last few days, Joe, many thanks.
Hi Joe,
In Australia, the media here don’t seem to have reported much (if at all) about the situation in Bahrain, just wanted to say thanks for bringing to our attention the latest over there. Hopefully things sort themselves out peacefully without any more bloodshed.
Also as a qiuck side note, as a history buff myself, I am glad someone else also uses the “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” line… I tell this to many people and they just roll their eyes and tell me history is boring and not worth learning about etc. The other day i had someone tell me the Chernobyl was brought on by an American attack!
Good background, Joe, am I right-doesnt Bahrain have an interest in Mc Laren? If so, could be tricky.
[...] All this provided a highly unstable backdrop; the governments of many Middle Eastern countries simply hadn't adapted to the changes enforced by the passing of time. Protest dominoes suddenly looked likely, just as Gdańsk had become the trigger for the downfall of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and pan-European revolts in the 1840s started with the Chartists in Britain. [...]