event

Sectarianism and Conflict in the Middle East

Tue. November 14th, 2017
Washington, DC

What’s driving the spread of Sunni-Shia identity politics in today’s Middle East? How is sectarianism contributing to the region’s instability and conflicts? The authors of a new edited volume, Beyond Sunni and Shia: The Roots of Sectarianism in a Changing Middle East, discussed how geopolitics, governance, media, and other factors are fueling sectarianism. 

Agenda

9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

Regional Cases and Geopolitical Sources of Sectarianism:
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria

Cole Bunzel, Fanar Haddad, Afshon Ostovar, Heiko Wimmen
Moderator: Frederic Wehrey

10:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Break

10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Domestic and Institutional Sources of Sectarianism:
Governance, Political Economy, Clerics, and Social Media

Joseph Bahout, Justin Gengler, Alexander Henley, Alexandra Siegel
Moderator: Marc Lynch

Speakers

Joseph Bahout

Joseph Bahout is a visiting scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program.

Cole Bunzel

Cole Bunzel is a PhD candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

Justin Gengler

Justin Gengler is the research program manager at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University. 

Fanar Hadad

Fanar Hadad is a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore. 

Alexander Henley

Alexander Henley is a lecturer in Islam and the study of religion at the University of Oxford.

Marc Lynch

Marc Lynch is a nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program.

Afshon Ostovar

Afshon Ostovar is an assistant professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Alexandra Siegel

Alexandra Siegel is a PhD candidate at New York University’s Politics Department and a graduate research associate at NYU’s Social Media and Political Participation Lab. 

Frederic Wehrey

Frederic Wehrey is a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Heiko Wimmen

Heiko Wimmen oversees the International Crisis Group’s Iraq/Syria/Lebanon project. 

This research was made possible through a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. 

Political ReformDemocracySecurityMilitaryNorth AfricaEgyptIraqLebanonSyriaSaudi Arabia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Joseph Bahout

Nonresident Fellow, Middle East Program

Joseph Bahout was a nonresident fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program. His research focuses on political developments in Lebanon and Syria, regional spillover from the Syrian crisis, and identity politics across the region.

Cole Bunzel

Cole Bunzel is a PhD candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, where his research focuses on the history of the Wahhabi movement in Saudi Arabia.

Justin Gengler

Fanar Hadad

Alexander Henley

Marc Lynch

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Marc Lynch was a nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program where his work focuses on the politics of the Arab world.

Afshon Ostovar

Afshon Ostovar is the author of Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (Oxford University Press, 2016), and an assistant professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Alexandra Siegel

Junior Fellow, Middle East Program

Frederic Wehrey

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Frederic Wehrey is a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on governance, conflict, and security in Libya, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.

Heiko Wimmen

Heiko Wimmen is a research associate in the Middle East and Africa division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.