걸프지역의 종파갈등에 관한 연구

A Study on the Conflict of Islamic Religious Sects in Gulf Area: Focused on Bahrain Case

In this study, the social and political issues that are triggered by the historical provenance of a sectarian policy discovered in the Islamic countries of the Gulf region, and the historical origin of anti‐Shia policies, are examined in the case of Bahrain. Through this examination, a better understanding of the current sectarian conflict inside Bahrain and other Islamic cultural area can be collected. Bahrain’s sectarian strife was eventually and extensively exposed in 2011 as the ‘Arab spring’, and was followed by a political deadlock which raised sectarian tension between Sunnis and Shi’is, not only in this small island kingdom, but also in the rest of the Islamic countries, including the GCC countries in the Gulf area. In GCC countries in general, Shi’i Muslims are minorities in both population and politics. But in case of Bahrain, 96% of their whole population is Muslims, their state religion is Islam, 30% of their population is Sunnis, and the rest is Shi’is. Even though Bahrain’s population mostly consists of Shi’i Muslims, it is ruled by a Sunni dynasty. The Shi’is have no political position in the administration agency, and seems to be isolated from economy rights. For example, as Shi’i Muslims were seen as a threat to the Bahrain ruling dynasty due to their constant uprisings and Iran’s Islamic revolution, the sectarian strife between the Sunnis and Shi’is affected Bahrain’s character of security agencies: the recruiting was done with sectarian discrimination, and mercenaries within the four core security agencies prevented the Shi’is from taking action. The four core security agencies — Bahrain Defense Force, National Guard, police forces which are branches of the Ministry of Interior, and the National Security Agency — have the responsibility of protecting the elite Sunni rulers, and have been reinforced directly after the Shi’i citizen uprising in 2011. Sectarian strife is not a result from a simple segregation of one group, but an inevitable outcome of the strategic ruling of authorities. Sectarian political choices are connected to economic interests, and have massively provoked sectarian conflicts. It is, however, hard to conclude that the sectarian strife is the only reason for Bahrain’s political conflict. The constant sectarian tension of the two denominations of Islam in Bahrain is threatening to spread sectarianism to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and also causing frictions among GCC nations, Iraq, and Iran.