- 01 Dec 2015
Anyone Listening to the Whispering Ayatollah of Iraq?
Abstract
Media reports on Iraq predominantly focus on the clash between Da’ish (ISIS) on the one hand and the Iraqi armed forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga on the other. This is frequently framed as a sectarian clash, reminiscent of Huntington. However, the dynamics in the deeper layers of society are rarely looked at in the mass media. One such sphere is the diversity within the Shi’a, and particularly the role of the Shi’a religious leadership, the Marja’iyyah in the holy city of Najaf. The most revered Marja’, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has undergone a remarkable evolution since the dark oppressive years under Saddam Husayn, via US occupation, to the current chaotic period with Da’ish as a possible game changer. This lecture attempted to provide an analysis of the attitudinal evolution of the Najaf Marja’iyyah in relation to the Iraqi governments, its position regarding sectarian strive, and current sectarian polarization.
About the Speakers
Regional Strategic Advisor for Southeast Asia
Dutch Embassy in Singapore
Ernesto H. Braam is a diplomat and scholar who has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, East and Southeast Asia. After studying international law and attaining his Master’s degree with a thesis on the Geneva conventions and the Palestinian territories, he began his career with the Dutch Foreign Service just before the first Gulf War. After 11 years of diplomatic postings in the Far East (Singapore, Japan, Thailand), plus some intermittent postings at HQ in The Hague, Braam returned to the Middle East in 2009 as Chargé d’Affairs of the Dutch embassy in Baghdad. In 2010, he was posted to The Hague to take up a position as Strategic Policy Advisor at the North Africa and Middle East Department. Since July 2015, he has started with a new assignment at the Dutch embassy in Singapore as a Regional Strategic Advisor for Southeast Asia. In addition to, and sometimes interwoven with his diplomatic work, he has conducted academic research on Islamic movements, particularly Salafism (in Southeast Asia and Middle East) and Shi’ism. He has published on both topics in peer-reviewed publications and is currently pursuing a related PhD.
