Saudi Arabia’s Rivalry With Iran Is Further Destabilizing the Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s increasingly erratic behavior has raised question marks around the world. After decades in which Riyadh kept a low profile and mainly intervened in world affairs by using its oil wealth, the Saudi military and intelligence machine is now pursuing a brutal war in Yemen, has put little Qatar under boycott, has attempted to destabilize Lebanon, is licking its wounds from defeat in Syria, and is cultivating potential clients in Iraq.

Opposition to Philosophy in Safavid Iran

In Opposition to Philosophy in Safavid Iran Ata Anzali and S.M. Hadi Gerami offer a critical edition of what is arguably the most erudite and extensive critique of philosophy from the Safavid period. The editors’ extensive introduction offers an in-depth analysis that places the work within the broader framework of Safavid intellectual and social history.

Foreign correspondent: Make Saudi Arabia great again! – 48 hills

I stood in front of a mosque in the city of Qatif, Saudi Arabia, interviewing people for a story. Suddenly, two city police cars pulled up. Several minutes later plain clothes officers from the secret police began questioning me. I had entered the country with a journalist visa, but committed the grave crime of practicing journalism without official permission.

Why Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala had special meaning this year

Over the years, the Shiite pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq – bigger than the hajj – has been a frequent target of Sunni militants, including ISIS. But the faithful keep coming, and ISIS is in retreat.

Workshop: Sectarianism in the Middle East – Think Tank

Sectarian conflict and polarisation has become a key feature of Middle East politics in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings of 2011. This workshop looked at some of the key drivers of this, such as the troubled legacy of foreign intervention, state failure, regional rivalries between Saudi Arabia, Iran and others, ruling strategies of authoritarian regimes as well as the spread of identity and sect-based political movements.

Opinion | Can the Saudi Crown Prince Transform the Kingdom?

In 1979, Saudi Arabia’s own indigenous radical Islam unleashed its full potential when a group of so-called Unitarians seized the Mecca mosque and took hostages in protest against the government’s corruption, relations with the West, Westernization and other grievances. The House of Saud realized the volatility of the state religion.

The Intricacies of Capturing the Holdings of a Mosque Library in Yemen: The Library of the Shrine of Imām al-Hādī, Ṣaʿda

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Saudi women gain access to stadiums: More questions than answers

Saudi Arabia’s decision to allow women to attend sporting events in three of the country’s stadiums raises as many questions as it provide answers that go to the core of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reforms and the kingdom’s sports policy.

Local Aristocrats in a Time of Critical Dynastic Change

Two Notable Families of Tabriz Facing the New Ṣafavid Order [DYNTRAN Working Paper 26, July 2017] by Daniel ZAKRZEWSKI The Ṣafavid conquest of Tabriz in 906/1501 marks a watershed in the history of Iran and the Islamic Middle East. By taking control of the city the young Ismāʿīl earned the right to proclaim himself king …

Journée d’études franco-allemandes sur le chiisme contemporain | École Pratique des Hautes Études

Journée organisée par Constance Arminjon (EPHE) et Rainer Brunner (CNRS). Paris, en Sorbonne.