종파 갈등의 재생산

Reproducing Sectarianism: Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the Arab media

This study examines Saudi-Iranian rivalry and its influence on sectarian conflict in the Middle East using the Yemeni Civil War as a case study. Typically, Saudi-Iranian rivalry is considered as a sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shi’a. However, sectarianism is being used as a tool to consolidate power. Since the Arab Spring, power struggles between Saudi Arabia and Iran has escalated. In this process, Saudi and Iranian intervention has contributed to escalating sectarian conflicts in the Middle East. Furthermore, sectarian biased news coverage of both state owned Saudi and Iranian news channels led to spread sectarian antagonism and spur sectarian split in the Middle East. The study looks into the origins of the Yemeni Civil War and its relations with Saudi Iranian rivalry. In particular, this study contributes to investigating how Saudi and Iranian state owned Arabic news channels deployed sectarian discourses in their coverage of the Houthi movement, Operation of Decisive Storm and Yemen humanitarian crisis and used this to their advantage in the Yemeni Civil War. This study confirms that Saudi Arabia and Iran use their news channels to perpetuate sectarian fissures by reinstating their own sectarian propaganda. Sectarianism which is produced by political power is reproduced through the media and the people who accept and benefit from it.