Ten years have passed since the pro-democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa known as the “Arab Spring.” As a result of these movements, some countries saw their governments toppled, others descended into armed conflict, and some faced diplomatic crises. In the years that followed, crises over suspected nuclear programs and ruptures in diplomatic relations also occurred, making it a decade of great upheaval in the Middle East. How, then, has this region—where the situations of various countries are intricately intertwined—been reported on in Japan?

The Middle East over 10 Years (2011~2020)

There are various ways to define which countries are included in the region called the “Middle East,” and it is sometimes taken to include Egypt and other North African countries. In this article, we exclude North African countries and focus on the countries of “West Asia” as used by National Geographic (（※1）). For analyses of media coverage of North Africa after the Arab Spring, please refer to this GNV article. Here we focus on the Middle East to see how it has changed over these 10 years, what most influenced those changes, and how the present-day Middle East has been shaped.

First, let’s look chronologically at the major events in the Middle East over the 10 years from 2011 to 2020. The most noteworthy event during this decade would be the “Arab Spring.” This wave of pro-democracy movements, which began in North Africa in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, spread to many Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain. In Bahrain, the movement was suppressed following intervention by Saudi Arabia; in Yemen, the then-dictatorial regime was toppled; and in Syria, it escalated into a large-scale armed conflict.

The Arab Spring continued to influence the dynamics of the Middle East for years afterward. In 2019, large-scale anti-government protests erupted in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere against rising prices and political corruption, resulting in many casualties. Although these protests did not lead to democratization, they did impact politics—for example, the prime minister of Lebanon resigned—leading some to call this the “the 2nd Arab Spring.”

Scenes in Bahrain during the Arab Spring (Photo: Bahrain in pictures / Wikimedia Commons)

The Syrian conflict that developed from the Arab Spring starting in 2011, together with the Iraq War that began in 2003, created the conditions for the rise of a particular organization: IS (the Islamic State). Expanding its power mainly in Syria and Iraq, IS seized northern Iraq in 2014 and declared the establishment of an Islamic State. It engaged in fierce armed clashes not only in the areas it occupied in Syria and Iraq but also with Kurdish forces that span multiple borders. The United States, Russia, Iran, and others intervened militarily, and by 2017 most of IS’s territory had been recaptured.

In 2014, when the rise of IS became conspicuous, a separate armed conflict broke out in Yemen. An anti-government force that emerged in the north seized the capital, effectively splitting the country between the anti-government forces and the government. The following year, a Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in Yemen. The 2015 intervention by Saudi Arabia and others intensified the conflict, and beyond ground fighting, airstrikes and a blockade of the country triggered a humanitarian crisis.

In Turkey as well, there were moves to topple the government. Amid a concentration of power in the presidency, a coup attempt by elements of the military occurred in 2016. Thereafter, repression extended beyond the military to the general public. In recent years, Turkey has also actively intervened in other countries with its military power, establishing military bases in multiple countries in the Middle East and Africa and even carrying out military intervention in Libya.

What shaped the Middle East was not only movements against various regimes and armed conflicts. It was also a decade marked by numerous diplomatic crises. During this period, Iran was suspected of developing nuclear weapons, and discussions on how to deal with Iran continued for years. In 2015, Iran reached an agreement with six countries led by the United States (※2), under conditions including the downsizing of its nuclear facilities. However, in 2018, the United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the agreement and began imposing its own economic sanctions on Iran. While the other 5 countries continued the nuclear deal with Iran, the United States maintained a hardline stance.

Talks between U.S. and Iranian government representatives (Photo: United States Mission Geneva / Flickr [CC BY-ND 2.0])

Major diplomatic disputes also erupted among Arab countries. The Qatar crisis that began in 2017 saw Saudi Arabia and others sever relations with Qatar on the grounds that it supported terrorist organizations, and they effectively imposed a blockade. Initially, only four countries—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, but other Middle Eastern and African countries later followed suit. In early 2021, this rupture in relations was formally resolved, and the Qatar crisis is considered to have effectively ended.

There were also developments regarding Israel and Palestine. Amid ongoing issues surrounding governance of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, Israel normalized relations with several countries in 2020. In the Middle East, it established diplomatic relations with Bahrain and the UAE, and in Africa, with Morocco and Sudan. Since its declaration of independence in 1948, Israel has not enjoyed good relations with many Middle Eastern countries due to the circumstances of its founding. Establishing diplomatic relations with these countries can be seen as an important step in Middle East peace.

Reporting trends

Now, let’s examine how the Middle East was reported on over the 10 years from 2011 to 2020. This time, we used the Mainichi Shimbun to study the volume of reporting (（※3）). First, let’s look at the total volume of reporting by country over the decade. The graph below shows the country-by-country reporting volume over the 10 years.

As the graph shows, coverage of Syria is exceptionally high compared to other countries. This is likely due to the ongoing conflict since 2012 and the attention surrounding its clashes with IS from around 2014. The next most-covered country is Iran, where reporting frequently focused on the nuclear agreement and on the U.S. withdrawal from the deal. Following these two are Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and Turkey, which have almost the same level of coverage among these 3 countries. By contrast, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman have very little coverage, indicating they were covered scarcely at all.

Next, let’s look at how reporting volume changed over the 10 years.

As the graph shows, reporting volume peaked in 2012 and 2015. The increase in 2012 can be attributed to the intensification of the conflict in Syria and the issue of Iran’s uranium enrichment. The 2015 increase came as the rise of IS in Syria and Iraq and the Iran nuclear agreement drew significant attention. We also see that coverage of the region gradually decreased from 2016 onward.

Let’s look at the trends for the five countries with the highest reporting volume.

Country-by-country trends show that coverage of Syria is outstandingly high; however, perhaps due to the reduced threat as IS weakened, the country drew less attention from 2017 onward. Iraq also drew significant attention during the rise of IS but, like Syria, later faded from focus. Iran and Israel/Palestine, by contrast, show relatively few large fluctuations and can be said to have consistently high coverage.

Why do certain topics get reported?

So far, we’ve observed the trends in coverage of the Middle East over the past 10 years. Why, then, is coverage concentrated on specific topics such as the Syrian conflict, Iran’s nuclear issue, the Israel/Palestine issue, and IS? Here, we explore four perspectives to understand these trends.

One major reason that affects the coverage of specific topics is the high level of interest in armed conflict. The pro-democracy movements dubbed the Arab Spring and the regime changes they brought about were large-scale phenomena that occurred in multiple countries and are considered highly newsworthy. While the Arab Spring in the Middle East did receive a certain amount of coverage, reporting related to conflicts—such as the war in Syria and the fights against IS—was overwhelmingly greater compared to coverage of the Arab Spring in the region (（※4）).

A second reason is Japan’s security being affected by situations in the Middle East. There are three aspects to this: a) concerns over securing resources such as oil and natural gas imported from the Middle East and the resulting fluctuations in market prices; b) concerns about securing and ensuring the safety of maritime trade routes; and c) the possibility that Japan or Japanese citizens could be caught up in conflicts or the threat of terrorism. In fact, in 2015, two Japanese citizens were taken hostage by IS and later killed.

Next, as a general tendency, there is the possibility that Japanese coverage increases in proportion to the degree of U.S. media interest. U.S. concerns in the Middle East include Iran’s nuclear issue, the Israel/Palestine issue, and IS, among others. Longstanding tensions with Iran over the nuclear issue, high political interest in the Israel/Palestine issue, and airstrikes against IS show that U.S. actions toward these countries align with topics reported in Japan. For example, focusing on Iran coverage, 55% of Mainichi Shimbun articles on Iran over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2020 also mentioned the United States.

The fourth reason is that coverage reflects not only international issues but also the practical circumstances of those doing the reporting. One such factor is ease of access to information. The Mainichi Shimbun, which was the subject of this survey, has Middle East bureaus in Tehran and Jerusalem. Iran (home to the Tehran bureau) ranks second in coverage volume by country, and Israel/Palestine (home to the Jerusalem bureau) ranks 3rd. Having a foreign bureau means reporters are on the ground and can go out to cover events whenever they occur. Looking at the country-specific line graphs, Iran and Israel/Palestine—where bureaus are located—show steadier coverage than other countries, indicating that ease of access influences coverage volume.

Why are some things not reported?

While the Middle East from 2011 to 2020 saw events that drew attention—such as armed conflicts and Iran’s nuclear issue—there were also events that received relatively little coverage. Yet among these less-covered events were important developments involving humanitarian issues or matters that threaten the region as a whole. Here, we consider the countries and events that are not reported, why they merit coverage, and finally, why they may go underreported.

Night view of Dubai (Photo: Tim Reckmann / Wikimedia Commons)

Countries with relatively low coverage considering their size and influence include Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia ranks 6th by coverage volume, and the UAE ranks 11th. These two countries have attempted to exert strong leadership in the region, including through military interventions. They also face many human rights issues at home and abroad—so is their level of coverage sufficient? Of the crude oil Japan imports, 65.1% comes from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Japan is heavily dependent on these two countries for resources.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has such severe human rights issues that it is called a “IS-like country.” Civil liberties such as freedom of expression, association, and assembly are not recognized, and acts that cause mental or physical harm to citizens are permitted under domestic law. In 2018, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, and the Saudi royal family is alleged to have been involved. Such developments certainly merit coverage.

The Yemeni conflict, meanwhile, is described as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” yet coverage is limited. This conflict, influenced by the Arab Spring, continues today, and the situation has grown more complex due to external intervention. Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition has intervened with airstrikes and more, and Yemen is said to be, alongside Syria, the country that suffered the most airstrikes between 2010 and 2019. External intervention has not been limited to airstrikes; it has also included ground forces, mercenaries, and, indirectly, arms trading. Civilians have borne the brunt of the damage, and Yemen is said to be facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. While the conflict itself and the intervention by the Saudi-led coalition have been covered to some extent, much of that coverage dates to 2015 when the intervention began, and the horrific humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been scarcely reported. In this conflict, Yemen’s Houthi forces have also attacked Saudi oil facilities, which means the Yemeni conflict is hardly irrelevant to Japan, given Japan’s dependence on Saudi oil.

Buildings damaged by the war in Yemen (Photo: United Nations OCHA / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

What about the aforementioned Qatar crisis? After four countries—including Saudi Arabia—cut ties with Qatar, not only Middle Eastern countries like Yemen but also African countries such as Senegal and Mauritania moved to sever relations with Qatar. Moreover, among the conditions Saudi Arabia and others demanded to restore relations were the closure of a Turkish base in Qatar and scaling back ties with Iran, making this a development that drew in many countries. As for Japan’s connection, Japan is dependent on Qatar for imports of liquefied natural gas. Nevertheless, only 468 articles mentioned Qatar over the 10 years. Other countries with limited coverage despite significant political issues include Lebanon, and countries such as Oman and Kuwait, which have played roles in Middle East peace: over the decade, Lebanon was mentioned in 497 articles, Oman in 170, and Kuwait in 81—low totals.

Why is coverage low for these countries? Paradoxically, in contrast to the fourth reason given in the previous section about why topics get covered, one possible cause is the difficulty of access to information. Saudi Arabia restricts journalists’ entry and reporting activities, and Yemen has been blockaded as a result of Saudi intervention. On the other hand, even though entering IS-controlled areas was effectively impossible, there was still extensive reporting on IS, so access difficulty alone cannot fully explain underreporting. This brings us to the role of the media and its problems. In Japan and elsewhere, the media has a role in forming and amplifying patriotism and nationalism, among other functions. As a result, matters inconvenient to one’s own country may receive little coverage. This is reflected in both the manner of reporting on Saudi Arabia and the volume of coverage.

Moreover, Japan is affected not only by the rise of IS but also by the situation in Saudi Arabia and the war in Yemen. Reporting on the fight against IS is easy to frame from a perspective of “justice,” which may make it a more accessible subject for the media. However, when trying to force Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations and its intervention in Yemen—issues closely connected with Japan—into a “good vs. evil” narrative, Saudi Arabia cannot necessarily be told from the “good” side. This may contribute to the relative paucity of reporting related to Saudi Arabia. Related to this, the United States has often declared diplomatic support for Saudi Arabia, which may also be a factor. In Japanese media coverage of Saudi Arabia, there are wording choices that can be read as clearly avoiding references to Japan’s ties. While it is difficult to state the reasons definitively, the inconvenience of reporting negatively on Saudi Arabia, with which Japan has deep ties, may have some influence.

A petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Secl / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 3.0])

Conclusion

Coverage of the Middle East over these 10 years was highly uneven by country and region. Moreover, looking not only at how much was covered, but at what was covered when—and what was not—reveals various issues in Japanese reporting. At GNV, we will continue to share the unreported world without being constrained by country or region.

※1 Some point out that “Middle East” indicates a direction as seen from Western countries and is thus a term based on a Western perspective.

※2 The six countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Russia.

※3 Reporting volume is measured by the number of articles. To determine article counts, we used the Mainichi Shimbun’s “Maisaku” database, counting items that listed a country name on the international page of the main edition published by the head office and the Tokyo regional edition. If multiple country names appeared in the same article, each country was counted separately, so some duplication is possible. For Israel/Palestine, either “Israel” or “Palestine” sufficed to be counted.

※4 The 2011 democratization movements took place not only in the Middle East but also in North Africa, and coverage of Egypt was relatively high. However, since this article focuses on the Middle East, the tally here excludes Egypt.

Writer: Minami Ono

Graphics: Minami Ono/Yow Shuning

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