Iraqi Shiites outnumber Iraqi Sunnis by a factor of two to one, but ever since Western allies created the Iraqi state in 1921, political power has belonged to the latter. That will very likely change in postwar Iraq. Many challenges and trouble spots lie ahead for any postwar government.
As talk turns to Shiite rule in postwar Iraq, some fear that the new government could end up being a fifth column for Tehran, which has long harbored Iraqi Shiite opposition groups. Others worry that the centuries’ old doctrinal divide between the Sunnis and the Shiites will hinder any effort to establish a secular Iraqi government.
Guests:
Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Chair of Persian Literature and Sociology of Culture at Columbia University
Barvir Hagopian, secretary of the Central Committee of Armenians in Iraq
Hasim Naheem, a Sunni Imam
Sheikh Samil al Bindawi, a Shiia Sheikh.