Geneive Abdo
Geneive Abdo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, writer, journalist |
| Known for | Expertise on Middle East and Islamic studies; author of The New Sectarianism |
Geneive Abdo (born 1960) is a distinguished American academic and writer with expertise in the Middle East and Islamic studies. She has held prominent senior fellow roles at institutions such as the Atlantic Council, Brookings Institution, and the Stimson Center. In 2017, she authored The New Sectarianism: The Arab Uprisings and the Rebirth of the Shi'a–Sunni Divide.
Career
Abdo served as a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, where her research concentrated on Iraq, Iran, and the dynamics between Shia and Sunni communities, particularly examining evolving political and religious alliances within Shia populations throughout the Middle East.
Her prior experience includes working with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative founded by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan aimed at reducing conflicts between Western and Islamic cultures. Between 2001 and 2002, Abdo was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim fellowship. From 1998 to 2001, she was based in Iran as The Guardian’s correspondent—the first American journalist stationed there since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—and contributed regularly to The Economist and International Herald Tribune.
Her publications include No God But God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam (2000), which explores Egypt’s shift towards an Islamic society and Islamist political influence; Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America After 9/11 (2006), focusing on identity issues faced by American Muslims after September 11; the monograph The New Sectarianism (2013), analyzing Shia–Sunni relations post-Arab uprisings; and she co-authored Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First Century Iran (2003), which investigates theological debates among Shiite clerics in Iran along with their political consequences.
Abdo’s articles have been published in leading outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. She has also appeared as a commentator on major media platforms including CNN, NPR, BBC, PBS NewsHour, and Al Jazeera.
She is a frequent speaker at academic institutions and policy think tanks throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
Works
- No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam (University of Oxford Press, 2000)
- Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First Century Iran (co-authored with Jonathan Lyons) (Henry Holt, 2003)
- Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America After 9/11 (Oxford University Press, 2006)
- The New Sectarianism (Brookings Institution, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, 2013)