While much of the mainstream coverage of politics in the Middle East frames tensions there as an ancient Shi’a-Sunni rivalry, in reality, conflict and cooperation in the region are much more complicated and layered. How should we understand sectarianism and geopolitics in the contemporary context and the reality of diversity and pluralism in the Muslim world? Dr. Mohseni will focus on the cultural, religious, and geopolitical nuances of this important relationship. Dr. Payam Mohseni is the Director of the Iran Project and Fellow for Iran Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, and an M.A. in Conflict, Security, and Development from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. This lecture is jointly supported by the Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies Program at Oklahoma State University and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma.