Transnational Shia Politics

Transnational Shia Politics PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849042144
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
This book illuminates the historical origins and present situation of militant Shia transnational networks by focusing on three key countries in the Gulf, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, whose Shia Islamic groups are the offspring of Iraqi movements. The reshaping of the area's geopolitics after the Gulf War and the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 have had a profound impact on transnational Shiite networks, pushing them to focus on national issues in the context of new political opportunities. For example, from being fierce opponents of the Saudi monarchy, Saudi Shiite militants have tended to become upholders of the Al-Sa'ud dynasty.The question remains, however, how deeply in society have these new beliefs taken root? Can Shiites be Saudi or Bahraini patriots? Louer concludes her book by analysing the transformation of the Shia' movements' relation to central religious authority, the marja', who reside either in Iraq and Iran. This is all the more problematic when the marja' is also the head of a state, as with Ali Khamenei of Iran, who has many followers in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Transnational Shia Politics

Transnational Shia Politics PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849042144
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book illuminates the historical origins and present situation of militant Shia transnational networks by focusing on three key countries in the Gulf, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, whose Shia Islamic groups are the offspring of Iraqi movements. The reshaping of the area's geopolitics after the Gulf War and the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 have had a profound impact on transnational Shiite networks, pushing them to focus on national issues in the context of new political opportunities. For example, from being fierce opponents of the Saudi monarchy, Saudi Shiite militants have tended to become upholders of the Al-Sa'ud dynasty.The question remains, however, how deeply in society have these new beliefs taken root? Can Shiites be Saudi or Bahraini patriots? Louer concludes her book by analysing the transformation of the Shia' movements' relation to central religious authority, the marja', who reside either in Iraq and Iran. This is all the more problematic when the marja' is also the head of a state, as with Ali Khamenei of Iran, who has many followers in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Shiism and Politics in the Middle East

Shiism and Politics in the Middle East PDF Author: Laurence Louer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197644163
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
In this timely book, completed before the current outbreak of unrest in Bahrain that has formed part of the Arab Spring, Laurence Louer explains, the background of the Bahraini conflict in the context of the wider issue of Shiism as a political force in the Arab Middle East, amongst other issues relating to the role of Shiite Islamist movements in regional politics. Her study shows how Bahrain's troubles are a phenomenon based on local perceptions of injustice rather than on the foreign policy of Shiite Iran. More generally, the book shows that, though Iran's Islamic Revolution had an electrifying effect on Shiite movements in Lebanon, Iraq, the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, local political imperatives have in the end been the crucial factor in the direction they have taken. In addition, the overwhelming influence of the Shiite clerical institution has been diminished by the rise to prominence of lay activists within the Shiite movements across the Middle East and the emergence of Shiite anti-clericalism. This book contributes to dispelling the myth of the determining power of Iran in the politics of Iraq, Bahrain and other Arab states with significant Shiite populations.

Sectarian Politics in the Gulf

Sectarian Politics in the Gulf PDF Author: Frederic M. Wehrey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231536100
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
One of Foreign Policy's Best Five Books of 2013, chosen by Marc Lynch of The Middle East Channel Beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and concluding with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab uprisings, Frederic M. Wehrey investigates the roots of the Shi'a-Sunni divide now dominating the Persian Gulf's political landscape. Focusing on three Gulf states affected most by sectarian tensions—Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait—Wehrey identifies the factors that have exacerbated or tempered sectarianism, including domestic political institutions, the media, clerical establishments, and the contagion effect of external regional events, such as the Iraq war, the 2006 Lebanon conflict, the Arab uprisings, and Syria's civil war. In addition to his analysis, Wehrey builds a historical narrative of Shi'a activism in the Arab Gulf since 2003, linking regional events to the development of local Shi'a strategies and attitudes toward citizenship, political reform, and transnational identity. He finds that, while the Gulf Shi'a were inspired by their coreligionists in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, they ultimately pursued greater rights through a nonsectarian, nationalist approach. He also discovers that sectarianism in the region has largely been the product of the institutional weaknesses of Gulf states, leading to excessive alarm by entrenched Sunni elites and calculated attempts by regimes to discredit Shi'a political actors as proxies for Iran, Iraq, or Lebanese Hizballah. Wehrey conducts interviews with nearly every major Shi'a leader, opinion shaper, and activist in the Gulf Arab states, as well as prominent Sunni voices, and consults diverse Arabic-language sources.

The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships

The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships PDF Author: Sabrina Mervin
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
ISBN: 1849042179
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Sheds light on the political, sociological and ideological processes that are affecting the dynamics of Sunni-Shia relations

Sunnis and Shi'a

Sunnis and Shi'a PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691234507
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
A compelling history of the ancient schism that continues to divide the Islamic world When Muhammad died in 632 without a male heir, Sunnis contended that the choice of a successor should fall to his closest companions, but Shi'a believed that God had inspired the Prophet to appoint his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as leader. So began a schism that is nearly as old as Islam itself. Laurence Louër tells the story of this ancient rivalry, taking readers from the last days of Muhammad to the political and doctrinal clashes of Sunnis and Shi'a today. In a sweeping historical narrative spanning the Islamic world, Louër shows how the Sunni-Shi'a divide was never just a dispute over succession—at issue are questions about the very nature of Islamic political authority. She challenges the widespread perception of Sunnis and Shi'a as bitter enemies who are perpetually at war with each other, demonstrating how they have coexisted peacefully at various periods throughout the history of Islam. Louër traces how sectarian tensions have been inflamed or calmed depending on the political contingencies of the moment, whether to consolidate the rule of elites, assert clerical control over the state, or defy the powers that be. Timely and provocative, Sunnis and Shi'a provides needed perspective on the historical roots of today's conflicts and reveals how both branches of Islam have influenced and emulated each other in unexpected ways. This compelling and accessible book also examines the diverse regional contexts of the Sunni-Shi'a divide, examining how it has shaped societies and politics in countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Shi'ite Lebanon

Shi'ite Lebanon PDF Author: Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 023114427X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Annotation By providing a new framework for understanding Shi'ite national politics in Lebanon, Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr recasts the relationship between religion and nationalism in the Middle East

The Art of Resistance in Islam

The Art of Resistance in Islam PDF Author: Yafa Shanneik
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009034685
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Examining different forms of resistance among Shi'i women in the Middle East and Europe, this book studies the performance of sectarian and gender power relations as expressed in Shi'i ritual practices. It provides a new transnational approach to researching gender agency in contemporary Islamic movements in both the Middle East and Europe.

Beyond Sunni and Shia

Beyond Sunni and Shia PDF Author: Frederic M. Wehrey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190876050
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
Surveys the landscape of modern sectarianism within Islam in North Africa and the Middle East.

Transnational Shia Politics

Transnational Shia Politics PDF Author: Laurence Louër
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN:
Category : Islam and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This timely book illuminates the historical origins and present situation of militant Shia transnational networks by focusing on three key countries in the Gulf, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, whose Shia Islamic groups are the offspring of Iraqi movements. The reshaping of the areas geopolitics after the Gulf War and the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 have had a profoundimpact on transnational Shiite networks, pushing them to focus on national issues in the context of new political opportunities.

Religious Transnational Actors and Soft Power

Religious Transnational Actors and Soft Power PDF Author: Jeffrey Haynes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131706691X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Haynes looks at religious transnational actors in the context of international relations, with a focus on both security and order. With renewed scholarly interest in the involvement of religion in international relations, many observers and scholars have found this move unexpected because it challenges conventional wisdom about the nature and long-term historical impact of secularisation. The 'return' of religion to international relations necessarily involves deprivatisation. Recent challenges to international security and order emanate from various entities, notably 'extremists', people often said to be 'excluded' from the benefits of globalisation for reasons of culture, history and geography. This study looks at the dynamics of this new religious pluralism as it influences the global political landscape. Several specific transnational religious actors are examined in the chapters including: American Evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Sunni extremist groups (al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba), and Shia transnational networks. While varying widely in what they seek to achieve, they also share an important characteristic: each seeks to use religious soft power to advance their interests. In sum, these religious transnational actors all wish to see the spread and development of certain values and norms, which impact on international security and order.