Sectarian Politics in the Gulf: From the Iraq War to the Arab Uprisings (Columbia Studies in Middle East Politics)
This is an excellent book and an important piece of scholarship. Frederic M> Wehrey has written a compelling, thoughtful, and original analysis of the new politics of sectarianism in the Persian Gulf since 2003. He is well positioned to write such a book, having traveled extensively in the region and spent considerable time with the most important political figures in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. His tone is commanding, the research is impressive, and the result is timely and vital. Wehrey's book is the best study I have seen yet of these pressing matters.(Toby Jones, Rutgers University)Wehrey has written a finely grained, insightful, and carefully researched contemporary study ofSectarian Politics in the Gulf. He offers insights on the broader Arab world and reveals that sectarian identity is no artificial construct but a culturally embedded and historically honed aspect of self. Yet he also demonstrates that sectarianism has been wielded cynically by both powerful rulers (Saudi Arabia) and insecure, easily manipulated monarchs (as in Bahrain) to foment division and divert legitimate accusations of injustice, discrimination, and opprobrious violations of basic human rights. This is the best book on the topic and a must read for policy makers.(Augustus Richard Norton, Boston University)Frederic M. Wehrey has produced a detailed, reliable and readable account of how regional and domestic factors combined to produce the "sectarianization" of politics in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait since the Iraq War of 2003. He skillfully demonstrates the ways different government policies in the three countries toward both Sunni and Shia groups produced different political outcomes in each. A great strength of the book is his careful analysis of factional politics within Shia and Sunni political currents in each country.(F. Gregory Gause, III, University of Vermont)Sectarian Politics in the Gulfrepresents the most up-to-date and insightful study on the politics of sectarianism in three key Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Far from being an intrinsic or innate feature of these societies, Prof. Wehrey shows in careful detail how sectarianism is invoked, produced and instrumentalized, and for very specific goals by governments, clerics as well as members of the Shii opposition. The book's argument situates sectarianism within local and regional political dynamics and contexts, and through this underscores that as a political phenomenon sectarianism cannot be apprehended by historically-rooted religious hatred. Based on a careful reading of primary sources and extensive fieldwork in the region, including in-depth interviews with many of the key activists, this book provides the most comprehensive and readable account of religious politics in the Gulf today.(Bernard Haykel, Princeton University)Offering coherent and lucid analysis of what has become a main feature of Gulf politics since the Arab Spring, this book is a must read for anybody interested in Gulf political dynamics and sectarianism in the Middle East.(Laurence Louër, author ofTransnational Shia Politics in the Gulf and Shiism and Politics in the Middle East)One of FP's Best Books on the Middle East for 2013...Wehrey's new book offers a theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich overview of the politics of Sunni-Shiite relations across the Gulf. His extensive research on the ground across the Gulf comes through powerfully, as does his balanced analytical sensibility. It should be required reading for anyone interested in Sunni-Shiite relations or in the regional politics of the Gulf.Foreign Policy(Marc LynchForeign Policy)A model of meticulous scholarship and comprehensive research... An essential academic library acquisition for Middle Eastern Studies reference collections.(MidWest Book Review)