Congressional Forum on Islam with Yitzhak Nakash

“Each Shi’a community is driven by its own agenda and interests” claimed Professor Yitzhak Nakash on January 22. Nakash, a professor at Brandeis University and currently a Carnegie scholar, spoke with senior Congressional staffers as part of the CSIS Congressional Forum on Islam. The presentation, entitled “Shi’a Rising? Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon,” focused on the rising influence of Shi’a political forces in the Middle East. Different agendas, argued Nakash, would likely prevent Shi’a domination of the Middle East, and instead would lead to a trend of Shi’a accommodation as Shi’a communities attempt to carve out political space for themselves in a Sunni dominated world.