REGIONAL INTERVENTIONS OF GULF MONARCHIES AND RESURGENCE OF ISLAMIC SECTARIANISM DURING THE ARAB SPRING

Abstract

This study examines the sectarian aspect and narrative of the Arab Spring by comparatively assessing the actions and policies of three Gulf monarchies actively involved in regional conflicts: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. It argues that the revolts in the Middle East and North Africa posed a threat to the authoritarian structure of sovereignty in the Gulf, and that this danger led the political elite to adopt a variety of survival strategies, the primary goal of which was to quell opposition and, more notably, divert attention away from the revolutionary sentiment that was sweeping the region at the time. With these arguments, it becomes clearer that the Arab Spring may be better understood when viewed within the backdrop of popular dissidence and political reform efforts.