In this week's podcast, Marc Lynch begins the episode by announcing the winners of the American Political Science Association MENA Politics Section Awards. (Starts at 0:56) Maya Mikdashi of the Rutgers University joins Marc Lynch on this week's podcast to discuss her new book, Sectarianism: Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon. The book analyzes how sex, sexuality, and sect shape and are shaped by law, secularism, and sovereignty in Lebanon. (Starts at 5:47). On today's episode, March Lynch speaks with Greg Gause of Texas A&M University, Curtis Ryan of Appalachian State University, and Waleed Hazbun of the University of Alabama about their chapter in The Political Science of the Middle East: Theory and Research Since the Arab Uprisings, which focuses on the U.S.'s declining geopolitical leverage in the Middle East. (Starts at 36:41). 

Music for this season’s podcast was created by Myyuh. You can find more of her work on SoundCloud and Instagram.