by John Bugnacki | Jul 21, 2014 | Monitor
With the recent advance of the Sunni-extremist group the Islamic State and the increasing sectarian divisions that are cleaving apart the Islamic world, it is more important than ever to understand the differences and similarities between distinct Muslim groups,...
by halverson | Jul 27, 2011 | Analysis, Framing, Government, Islam, Narrative, Politics, Religion
By Jeffry R. Halverson Unlike the protests of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, the campaigns underway against the Assad regime in Syria have a distinctly sectarian character. The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawites, a little-known esoteric Shi‘ite sect....
by halverson | Jul 1, 2011 | Egypt, Identification, Islam, Language, Narrative, Religion
by Jeffry R. Halverson The Karbala master narrative is one of the most rich and influential in the Islamic world, specifically among Shi‘a societies. We devoted an entire chapter to it in the book Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism, and Kamran Scott Aghaie has...
by halverson | Apr 21, 2011 | Analysis, Framing, Iran, Islam, Narrative, Politics, Religion
by Jeffry R. Halverson Recently, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been abuzz over the release of a video entitled “The Coming is Very Near,” a 28-minute production created by a group of Twelver Shi‘a devotees of the Hidden Imam al-Mahdi, known as the Harbingers of the...
by admin | Oct 7, 2010 | White Papers
by Jeffry R. Halverson The ruling regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran is increasingly known for a militant foreign policy posture, abuse of the human rights of its citizens, and a suspected nuclear weapons program that threatens to destabilize the Middle East...