Sectarianisation: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East

Speakers: Danny Postel, Northwestern University; Madawi Al-Rasheed, LSE Middle East Centre; Nader Hashemi, University of Denver; Toby Matthiesen, University of Oxford; Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, University of Oxford As the Middle East descends ever deeper into violence and chaos, ‘sectarianism’ has become a catch-all explanation for the region’s troubles. The turmoil is attributed to ‘ancient sectarian differences’. In this talk, editors Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel join Madawi Al-Rasheed, Toby Matthiesen and Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi to challenge the use of ‘sectarianism’ as a magic-bullet explanation for the region’s ills, focusing on how various conflicts in the Middle East have morphed from non-sectarian (or cross-sectarian) and nonviolent movements into sectarian wars. Recorded on 8 May 2017.