The aim of this workshop is to examine whether and if so how sectarianism also carries implications for the workings of international relations in the Middle East and against this background to discuss a) to what extent and in which ways existing IR theories are useful to grasp these dynamics (i.e., are some IR theories more useful than others, do we need to revise/upgrade existing theories, should we combine different theories, or do we need completely new forms of theories and what should they look like), and b) whether insights from the Middle East carry lessons for broader and more general IR debates (e.g. on the interplay between ideational/material factors, on alliance making, on notions of (in)security, state/non-state actors etc.).  

The workshop is part of a larger inter-disciplinary project – SWAR: Sectarianism in the Wake of the Arab Revolts – that aims at examining the nature, causes and consequences of the recent sectarian surge in the Middle East. For further info on the SWAR project as such: www.ps.au.dk/swar

Workshop Program:

930-945: Morten Valbjørn (Aarhus University): Welcome/On the SWAR Project (www.ps.au.dk)  

945-1030: Raymond Hinnebusch (University of St. Andrews/Aarhus University): IR Theory and Sectarianization of the MENA Regional System

1030-1045: Coffee break

1045-1130: Simon Mabon (Lancaster University): Sovereignty, Sectarianism and the Post Arab Uprisings Middle East

1130-1215: Henrik Lauritsen (Aarhus University): The Origins and Evolution of the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry

1215-1315: Lunch

1315-1400: May Darwish (Durham University): The Empowering Audience and the Securitisation of Sectarianism in the Middle East

1400-1445: Helle Malmvig (DIIS/Copenhagen University): TBA

1445-1500: Coffee Break

1500-1545: Søren Schmidt (Aalborg University): The Regional Security Complex Theory and the Syrian civil war. The relative role of respectively balance of power and constructed enmity/amiety relations

1545-1630: Morten Valbjørn (Aarhus University): Dialogues in Sunni-Muslim Politics

1630-1700: Concluding discussions