POMEPS Studies 38: Sectarianism and International Relations

The essays collected here were initially presented at a joint SEPAD-POMEPS workshop held at Chatham House in February 2020. The authors were asked to reflect on the ways in which geopolitical tensions between Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States – and others – shapes conflict and societal tensions across the Middle East and beyond.

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Introduction: Sectarianism and International Relations
Marc Lynch and Simon Mabon

Rivalry Amid Systemic Change: Iranian and Saudi Competition in the post-American Middle East
Christopher Phillips

Saudi Arabia and Sectarianism in Middle East International Relations
F. Gregory Gause, III

Sectarian identity politics and Middle East international relations in the first post-Arab Uprisings decade— from ’whether’ to ’how,’ ‘where’ ‘when’ and for ‘whom’
Morten Valbjørn

The Potential of Nationalism in Iraq: Caught between Domestic Repression and external Co-optation
Maria-Louise Clausen

Iraq: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Jacob Eriksson

Tales of the Unexpected: Will the Lebanese Uprising Stay Clear of Attempts at Geopolitization?
Helle Malmvig and Tamirace Fakhoury

The Sectarian Image Reversed: The Role of Geopolitics in Hezbollah’s Domestic Politics
Bassel F. Salloukh

Saudi-Iranian Rivalry from the Gulf to the Horn of Africa: Changing Geographies and Infrastructures
May Darwich

Central Asia and the Iran-Saudi rivalry
Edward Wastnidge