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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.
About the author
Frederic M. Wehrey is a senior associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a specialist in the politics of the Persian Gulf, and his articles and commentary have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. He holds a doctorate in international relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford University.
Report
"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." - Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy
