Beyond Sunni and Shia: The Roots of Sectarianism in a Changing Middle East

This collection seeks to advance our understanding of intra-Islamic identity conflict during a period of upheaval in the Middle East. Instead of treating distinctions between and within Sunni and Shia Islam as primordial and immutable, it examines how political economy, geopolitics, domestic governance, social media, non- and sub-state groups, and clerical elites have affected the transformation and diffusion of sectarian identities.

Particular attention is paid to how conflicts over distribution of political and economic power have taken on a sectarian quality, and how a variety of actors have instrumentalized sectarianism. The volume, covering Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Iran, and Egypt, includes contributors from a broad array of disciplines including political science, history, sociology, and Islamic studies.

Beyond Sunni and Shia draws on extensive fieldwork and primary sources to offer insights that are empirically rich and theoretically grounded, but also accessible for policy audiences and the informed public.

Author: Frederic Wehrey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/01/2018
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9780190876050
ISBN10: 0190876050
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Islam | General
- Religion | Religion, Politics & State
- Political Science | World | Middle Eastern

About the Author

Frederic Wehrey is a senior associate of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of Sectarian Politics in the Gulf: From the Iraq War to the Arab Uprisings (2013), chosen as a Best Book on the Middle East by Foreign Affairs magazine. He holds a DPhil in International Relations from Oxford University.