Religious securitisation and institutionalised sectarianism in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The events of Arab Spring that swept across the Middle East have altered the face of domestic politics within Arab states, spurring a rise in Shia/Sunni sectarianism across the region. Yet, to view sectarianism as an inevitable outcome ignores the fact that both factions have lived together peacefully in the past. This article employs securitisation to interrogate the construction of Shi'ism as a societal threat in Saudi Arabia. It addresses two questions: first, what empirical insight can the framework provide regarding the religious securitisation of Shi’ism by Saudi Arabia? Next, what are the implications of the securitisation discourse on the Shi’a minority and the wider Saudi society? Theoretically, this article engages with contemporary debates concerning Eurocentric aspects of securitisation and the concept of religious securitisation. Empirically, it argues that the Saudi state has instrumentally securitised Shi'ism to curb the perceived threat from Iran. Crucially, it analyses how the securitisation discourse has justified institutionalised discrimination against the Shi’a minority, and shows how this has unleashed centrifugal trajectories that undermine societal stability. This has unfolded in an empirical cycle of violence, as Sunni citizens become normalised to violence against the Shi’a, spurring the minority to mount an increasingly violent campaign of resistance.