On April 17, 2013 Carol Williams of the Los Angeles Times wrote a piece outlining the destabilizing forces taking place in the Middle East following the Arab Spring, where she interviewed Geneive Abdo on the rise of Sunni-Shia sectarianism in the region:
“Perceived interference by outside powers in the reform movements and the armed uprising in Syria have resulted in a volatile proxy war between Shiite leaders in Iran, Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia on one side and the United States, Turkey and Sunni-ruled Persian Gulf states on the other, Middle East scholar Geneive Abdo warns in a new report published by the Brookings Institution.
Bahrain was swept up in the regionwide democracy movement two years ago, but activists have retreated to a standoff with the government. Little progress has been made, though, because the Sunni rulers reject any power-sharing with the Shiite opposition for fear that will open the door to Iranian domination, Abdo said in an interview.”
Read more about her interview with Geneive Abdo here.