Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs - Harvard

Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, Audrey Kitagawa, and Harvard student Michel Nehme discuss the philosophy undergirding interfaith dialogue; whether interfaith dialogue can in itself be conceived of as a mechanism for ‘real change’; and how we might respond to religious doctrines which are hostile to interfaith rapprochement.

Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, Cole Durham , Jim Christie, and Harvard student Michel Nehme discuss the politics of the G20 Interfaith Forum; how institutional design can interact with and enable interfaith dialogue; and how we might bring adverse actors to the interfaith table.

Project Associate Mohammad Sagha hosted Fred M. Donner, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago, for a podcast on the origins of Islam, early identity, historiographical issues in scholarship, and conventional understandings of Islamic history, among other topics. Donner's scholarship has significantly contributed to the field of late antique studies of the Near East and re-positioned key debates on the nature of the early Islamic era including theories regarding the message of Prophet Muhammad's monotheistic reform movement and the boundaries of social inclusivity during this formative period.

In this episode of “World of Faith”, Michel Nehme and Sayed Razawi are joined by Chief Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and current International President of Religions for Peace. They discuss whether interreligious dialogue is an inherent good, rather than merely an instrumental one; how the evangelical imperative of certain faiths reconciles with interreligious dialogue; and the role of religious leaders and principles in the public square.

On this episode of "World of Faith", hosts Michel Nehme and Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi invite Elizabeta Kitanovic from the Conference on European Churches and Merete Bilde of the European Union External Action Service to discuss the foreign policy consideration of religious states and leaders; questions of ecumenicalism within Christianity; and the internal religious and political dynamics of interfaith consensus building.

Chinmay Pandya, Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, and Michel Nehme discuss the impact of COVID-19 in India, the different intersections of faith and culture, and the development of interfaith relations.

In this episode of 'World of Faith', Michel Nehme and Syed Ali Abbas Razawi sit down with Bishop Mark Strange to discuss the long term impacts on religious expression and participation of the pandemic; navigating the fraught road to re-opening; and the importance of faith in personal, communal, and political realms."

Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, Rabbi Joseph Dweck, and Harvard student Michel Nehme discuss what coronavirus has meant for religion: from the effects of lockdown on religious assembly, to the role religious leaders have had to play in litigating between tradition and reform as both they and their congregants have been forced to adapt to a new way of life.

Project Associate Mohammad Sagha sat down with Shaykh Ibrahim Kazerooni from the Islamic Center in Dearborn to discuss Shaykh Kazerooni's unique journey from the seminaries of Najaf and fleeing persecution in Iraq to life as an exiled scholar in the West, as well as the lived experiences of pluralism and the challenges facing diasporic Muslim communities in the United States.

In this podcast, Peter Mandaville, Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University, and Mohammad Sagha, Associate at the Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs at Harvard's Weatherhead Center discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Islamic revivalist movements and political thought in the region, as well Mandaville's scholarly works, including his survey study, Islam and Politics. The discussion also centers on important sectarian dynamics between Shi'a and Sunni Muslims in the Middle East as well as U.S. grand strategy and potential future geopolitical trajectories for state actors in West Asia, especially in light of China's growing influence in the region.

Dr. Peter Mandaville is Professor of Government and Politics in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution and Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. From 2015-16 he was a Senior Advisor in the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. State Department. Previous government experience includes serving as a member of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff from 2011-12 where he helped shape the U.S. response to the Arab Spring. At Mason he was previously the Founding Director of the Center for Global Studies and also Director of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies. His previous visiting affiliations have included American University, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Pew Research Center.