Journalists, policy makers, and researchers are preoccupied with understanding the Middle East in sectarian terms. Conventional wisdom tells us that Middle Easterners are clinging to age-old hatreds, unable to get past centuries-old grievances visited on their forefathers’ forefathers. But is it really all about sect and vendetta? Or are those just reductive made-for-TV tag lines? Are differences in formal belief systems the crux of the matter? Or is the sectarian story a gross oversimplification?
Hear from two scholars who’ve closely studied the region’s divides. AUB Assistant Professor of Sociology Rima Majed and Aronson Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Sarah Parkinson.
