Contentious cartoons: Elite and media-driven mobilization

This article analyzes the so-called Muhammad cartoons conflict that started on September 30, 2005, when a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published twelve satirical cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. I examine how the conflict moved from the national level of Denmark to become a full-blown instance of transnational contention. The guiding argument of the article is that institutional elites and media were the prime movers in the transnational escalation of the conflict. Institutional actors, mainly the Egyptian government and the Organization of Islamic Conferences, were active from the beginning as brokers. These actors spent months preparing the ground before the conflict escalated in late January and early February 2005. Their efforts were partly supported by certification from key international institutions. The evidence also suggests that transnational news channels in the Arab and Muslim world Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, and to a lesser degree, national media, played a significant part as diffusers and brokers in the escalation.