In recent years, the term sectarianism has been widely used to explain contemporary affairs across the Middle East and North Africa. This book draws on range of cases to critically interrogate the term in order to better understand the contemporary politics of the Middle East.

It originally published as a special issue of Global Discourse.

1. People, sects and states: interrogating sectarianism in the contemporary Middle East 2. Dehumanisation in religious and sectarian violence: the case of Islamic State 3. The politicisation of sectarianism in Egypt: 'creating an enemy' the state vs. the Ikhwan 4. 'Jewish sectarianism' and the State of Israel 5. Reply: Bounding an elusive concept: response to 'Jewish Sectarianism' and the State of Israel 6. Social protest and the political economy of sectarianism in Lebanon 7. Lebanon's consociational model, Christian parties and the struggle for political power in post-2005 period 8. Reply: Communalism and consociational democracy: a response to Abbas Assi 9. Contested spaces and sectarian narratives in post-uprising Bahrain 10. Hamas and the 'trap' of sectarianism? 11. Reply: The structure of sectarianism: response to 'Hamas and the "trap" of sectarianism' 12. Casting the Other as an existential threat: The securitisation of sectarianism in the international relations of the Syria crisis

Simon Mabon is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Lancaster, Director of the Richardson Institute and a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Centre, UK.

Lucia Ardovini has recently been awarded her PhD in International Relations by the University of Lancaster, UK. She is a Post-Doctoral Reseach Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and a Research Associate at the Richardson Institute.