![]() And thanks, Luis, for having us.įor the last year or so, the Council and the Pew Forum have been working together on a series of meetings as we think through the question of what impact religion has on foreign policy. This meeting is part of a series of joint meetings between the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Council on Foreign Relations, which Walter will say a little more about. ![]() Without further ado, I’m going to introduce Walter Mead, who is actually going moderate today’s discussion and will introduce our speaker. This is an extremely diverse crowd of experts. We’re delighted that all of you could be here. We very much look forward to the discussion. Obviously the topic we’re discussing today could not be more pertinent to what is going on before our eyes in the world today. I want to thank Vali Nasr for agreeing to speak to us. TIMOTHY SHAH: I’m Timothy Shah, and I’m a senior fellow in religion and world affairs with the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, which is a project of the Pew Research Center. Foreign Policy, the Council on Foreign Relations Vali Nasr, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, Associate Chair of Research, Department of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School ![]() Nasr asserted that despite its growing ambitions, Iran may well hold the key to regional stability. removed the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, and allowed Shiites to gain political control through “one man, one vote” democracy, it shifted sectarian power in the region toward Shiites. Nasr argued that Iran, a Shiite theocracy, is emerging as a regional power in the Middle East, a region where Shiites comprise about half the population. The Pew Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations invited Vali Nasr, author of the new book, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape The Future, to address a small group of academics, policymakers and journalists and to answer questions after his opening talk. ![]() Recent violence between Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim guerrilla group, and Israel sectarian conflict in Iraq and escalating tensions around Iran’s nuclear ambitions have drawn urgent attention to the resurgence and politicization of Shiite Islam and its relationship to Sunni Islam. ![]()
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