There were a number of factors that had caused Bahrain to be more liberal than its neighbours, but these were challenged by the rise of Islamic religious fundamentalism. Bahrain's pluralist traditions were to a large extent a result of the complex confessional and demographic makeup of the country, which required Shi'a Moslems Arabs, Sunni Moslem Arabs, ethnic Farsis (Huwala), and Iranian Arabs (Ajams), and a plethora of minority faiths, to live and work together. This tolerance had been buttressed by the prominence of Arab nationalism and Marxism as the main modes of dissent, both of which were socially progressive and downplayed religious affiliations. The country's traditional dependence on trade further encouraged openness. It was the political earthquake represented by the Shah's fall that changed the dynamics of Bahrain's politics.