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Abstract

This research assesses the motives of Saudi Arabia’s aid to Yemen. Saudi Arabia has been the most significant donor to the country whilst threatening humanitarian conditions in Yemen through its military intervention. Thus, this research aims to unveil the Kingdom’s reasons to provide foreign aid to Yemen whilst doing the military intervention. This research uses the seven foreign aid frames according to Veen (2011) to analyse possible interest implied in the Kingdom’s foreign aid delivery to Yemen. The method used in this research is a literature review by analysing the Kingdom’s official statements published on the government's official websites and an interview with a Middle East expert. The statements were coded using qualitative analysis software, Atlas.ti. This study finds that Saudi Arabia has four significant motives to provide foreign aid to Yemen, namely humanitarian, reputation, security, and power. The four frames are connected but mostly related to the Kingdom’s objective to maintain its power. Thus, foreign aid is used as a soft power tool to preserve Saudi Arabia’s influence against economic and security threats, prevent an unfriendly regime from ruling Yemen, and increase its reputation in the international sphere.

Bahasa Abstract

Penelitian ini membahas tentang motif bantuan luar negeri Arab Saudi di Yaman. Arab Saudi telah menjadi negara donor yang paling signifikan bagi Yaman, tetapi juga mengancam kondisi kemanusiaan di Yaman dengan melakukan intervensi militer. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjawab mengapa Arab Saudi memberikan bantuan luar negeri ke Yaman di tengah intervensi militernya. Konsep yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah bantuan luar negeri menurut Veen (2011) untuk menganalisis kepentingan Arab Saudi melalui pengiriman bantuan luar negerinya ke Yaman. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka dengan menganalisis pernyataan resmi Arab Saudi yang dipublikasikan di situs-situs resmi pemerintah, dan juga wawancara dengan ahli kawasan Timur Tengah. Pernyataan tersebut kemudian melalui proses koding menggunakan perangkat lunak Atlas.ti untuk membantu analisis data. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa Arab Saudi memiliki empat motif yang terlihat signifikan, yaitu kemanusiaan, reputasi, keamanan, dan pengaruh. Keempat bingkai tersebut saling terhubung satu sama lain utamanya untuk kepentingan mempertahankan power Arab Saudi. Dengan begitu, bantuan luar negeri digunakan untuk mempertahankan pengaruh Arab Saudi dari ancaman ekonomi dan keamanan, mencegah rezim yang tidak bersahabat dengan Arab Saudi untuk berkuasa di Yaman, serta meningkatkan reputasinya di ranah internasional.

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