POLI 342 Lecture Notes - Kurdish Nationalism, Wahhabism, Persian Gulf
31 Oct 2011
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Document Summary
Since the 50s to the 70s, imbalance in spending power: majority of money was going to the sunni"s. spending on sunni section of society continued. Distinction b/w the east and west but also divisions w/in the west itself. By the late 70s, socio-economic tensions heightened-- no ability to express interest and organize society, effectively: religiuos clerics took on the need to organize the regime. Division of power between governing regime and religious order -- division of labor b/w the two groups. Majority of the population adheres to wahabbi interpretation of islam (minority is shi"ite): historic role of the regime has been to control the state. The state has tried to take more control over how religion is interpreted- Protection of islam is linked to how the state protects and administers its affairs. After the 70s when the clerics realized they could mobilize the population against the regime, it tried to play a role in managing the religious institutions.
