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Secular Nationalism and Citizenship in Muslim Countries pp 195–208Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Impact of the Shia-Sunni Political Struggle and Future Strategies for Christians and Other Vulnerable Communities in the Middle East

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Part of the book series: Minorities in West Asia and North Africa ((MWANA))

Abstract

Katulis provides a strategic assessment of the security and political dynamics reshaping the Middle East and their impact on Christian communities across the Middle East. He argues that the continued presence of Christians and other vulnerable groups in the region will require a shift in policy planning on the part of the United States, Europe, and Russia that involves working with regional partners to develop a positive agenda that supports religious freedom, equality, and basic rights for all its people. Finally, Katulis analyzes the impact of U.S. foreign policy on these dynamics during the past few years and concludes with a preliminary analysis on the impact of President Donald Trump and his new administration on these same dynamics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CAP National Security and International Policy Team, “State Legitimacy, Fragile States, and U.S. National Security” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2016), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2016/09/12/143789/state-legitimacy-fragile-states-and-u-s-national-security/. See also Francis Fukuyama, Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), 41.

  2. 2.

    Katulis and Juul, “U.S. Middle East Policy at a Time of Regional Fragmentation and Competition.”

  3. 3.

    Stathis N. Kalyvas, “Ethnic Defections in Civil War,” Comparative Political Studies, vol. 41, no. 8, August 2008, 1043–1068, available at http://stathis.research.yale.edu/documents/Ethnicdefection.pdf; Emile Hokayem, “‘Assad or We Burn the Country’: Misreading Sectarianism and the Regime in Syria,” War on the Rocks, August 24, 2016, available at http://warontherocks.com/2016/08/assad-or-we-burn-the-country-misreading-sectarianism-and-the-regime-in-syria/

  4. 4.

    Phillip Conner and Conrad Hackett, “Middle East’s Christian population in flux as Pope Francis visits Holy Land,” Pew Research Center, May 19, 2014, available at http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/19/middle-easts-christian-population-in-ux-as-pope-francis-visits-holy-land; Nina Shea, “The Middle East’s Embattled Christians,” National Review, December 23, 2009, available at http://www.nationalreview.com/article/228851/middle-easts-embattled-christians-nina-shea

  5. 5.

    Conner and Hackett, “Middle East’s Christian population in flux as Pope Francis visits Holy Land”; PBS Newshour, “Facing Uncertainty, Middle East Christians Are Increasingly Emigrating,” September 17, 2012, available at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/religion-july-dec12-christians_09-17/

  6. 6.

    Multiple CAP interviews, Egypt, October 2014.

  7. 7.

    Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook: Lebanon,” June 20, 2014, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html

  8. 8.

    Tim Arango, “In Iraq, Traditions of Christmas Found Only in Memory,” New York Times, December 24, 2014, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/world/middleeast/iraq-christians-ousted-by-isis-celebrate-christmas.html?_r=0; Greg Botelho, “Amid killings and kidnappings, can Christianity survive in the Middle East?”, CNN, February 27, 2015, available at http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/27/middleeast/christianity-middle-east/

  9. 9.

    Holly Williams, “Iraqi Christians: ‘We need somewhere safe to live,’” CBS News, August 12, 2014, available at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraqi-christians-we-need-somewhere-safe-to-live/

  10. 10.

    Daniel Burke, “ISIS to Christians in Mosul: convert, pay, or die,” CNN Belief Blog, July 21, 2014, available at http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/21/facing-fines-conversion-or-death-christians-flee-mosul/

  11. 11.

    BBC News, “Syria’s beleaguered Christians,” February 25, 2015, available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22270455

  12. 12.

    Conrad Hackett and Brian J. Grimm, “Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population” (Washington: Pew Research Center, 2011), available at http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf; Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook: Egypt,” June 22, 2014, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html

  13. 13.

    Johannes Makar, “The Egyptian Pope’s Risky Partisanship,” Carnegie Endowment for Inter-national Peace, February 26, 2015, available at http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/index.cfm?fa=show&article=59195&solr_hilite=

  14. 14.

    Jonathan Lis, “Israel recognizes Aramean minority in Israel as separate nationality,” Haaretz, September 17, 2014, available at http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299; Adalah, “Palestinian NGOs in Israel reject the ‘Sectarian Representation Law’: ‘We hold on to our Arab Palestinian Identity,’” February 27, 2014, available at http://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/8250

  15. 15.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09; http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/230768.htm

  16. 16.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/

  17. 17.

    Anne Appelbaum, “Trump’s bizarre and un-American visit to Saudi Arabia,” Washington Post, May 21, 2017, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/05/21/trumps-bizarre-and-un-american-visit-to-saudi-arabia/; Jennifer Rubin, “Trump’s un-American speech in Saudi Arabia,” Washington Post, May 21, 2017, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/05/21/trumps-un-american-speech-in-saudi-arabia/; Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan, “Trump administration weighs deeper involvement in Yemen war,” Washington Post, March 26, 2017, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-weighs-deeper-involvement-in-yemen-war/2017/03/26/b81eecd8-0e49-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html; Conor Finnegan, “Tillerson: Pushing human rights abroad ‘creates obstacles’ to US interests,” ABC News, May 3, 2017, available at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tillerson-pushing-human-rights-abroad-creates-obstacles/story?id=47190743

  18. 18.

    Dan Benaim, “The Problem Isn’t Just Who Trump Has Offended—It’s Who He Hasn’t,” Foreign Policy, July 11, 2017, available at http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/11/the-problem-isnt-who-trump-has-offended-its-who-he-hasnt/

  19. 19.

    CAP Middle East Team, “A Guide for Those Perplexed About the Qatar Crisis,” June 21, 2017, available at https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2017/06/22065035/3QatarCrisis-brief.pdf

  20. 20.

    Julie Zauzmer, “Pence: America will prioritize protecting Christians abroad,” Washington Post, May 11, 2017, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/05/11/pence-america-will-prioritize-protecting-christians-abroad/

  21. 21.

    Jaweed Kaleem, “U.S. hits cap of 50,000 refugee admissions,” Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2017, available at http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-u-s-hits-50-000-cap-on-refugee-1499890506-htmlstory.html

  22. 22.

    Tom Malinowski, “Donald Trump’s Phony Compassion for Christians,” New York Times, February 5, 2017, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/opinion/donald-trumps-phony-compassion-for-christians.html

  23. 23.

    Tom Gjelten, “After Fleeing Persecution, U.S. Christian Refugees Now Face Deportation,” National Public Radio, July 8, 2017, available at http://www.npr.org/2017/07/08/535959270/after-fleeing-persecution-u-s-christian-refugees-now-face-deportation

  24. 24.

    Lauren del Valle and Sonia Moghe, “Iraqi Christians in Michigan Fear Deportation,” CNN.com , June 16, 2017, available at http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/16/us/aclu-files-against-ice-for-iraqi-nationals/index.html

  25. 25.

    Ben Solis, “Judge finds he can halt deportation of endangered Iraqi immigrants,” MLive.com , July 11, 2017, available at http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2017/07/judge_finds_he_can_halt_deport.html

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for American Progress, Washington, DC, USA

    Brian Katulis

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  1. Brian Katulis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA

    Kail C. Ellis

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Katulis, B. (2018). The Impact of the Shia-Sunni Political Struggle and Future Strategies for Christians and Other Vulnerable Communities in the Middle East. In: Ellis, K. (eds) Secular Nationalism and Citizenship in Muslim Countries. Minorities in West Asia and North Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71204-8_12

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