But domestically, with the Sunni Muslim ruling family trying to suppress calls for democracy, especially from the impoverished Shia Muslim suburbs around Manama, the future looks less predictable.Sheikh Issa, a cheery man, used to play good cop to the bad cop of his reviled brother, Sheikh Khalifa, the prime minister.
He was, after signing with Warner Brothers and attaining stardom, one of the first rappers to sit on Oprah's couch; the first to become a bona fide rocker (with his band Body Count, in 1990); the first to land a serious starring role in a major Hollywood film, "New Jack City" (1991) — not to mention his long-running TV show, "Law & Order: SVU," which Ice-T says made cops some of his "biggest fans".
Soon, though, he stood on the fifth rung of a ladder surveying the fields, often playing good cop with encouraging words to the frequent bad-cop harshness of his aides.
Kerouac ran into it, too; he avoided trouble early on in his trip when caught with marijuana by giving the cop some of his stash.
By 1997, however, the book had sufficient cult status for John McNaughton, director of the Thompsonesque Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, to have the bent cop antihero of his film Normal Life give a copy to a man in search of a good read.
For better or for worse, Mansouri was often described as a "traffic cop" because of his ability to move large numbers of people around a stage while staying on top of a musical score.
Kan also cops to his lack of experience in legal.
"Don't underestimate the better instincts of cops," he said of his reaching out to the rank and file by praise and prod.
"I get a lot of cops," Codella said of his own gym.
To remain undetected, he uses a Mona Lisa painting to disguise his face, and one of the cops make note of his "Renaissance smile".
