Review of Anh Nga Longva and Anne Sofie Roald, Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation. Leiden: Brill, 2012. vii+369 pp. ISBN 978-90-04-20742-4

Over the past 50 years, concerns with religious and ethnic ‘identity’ have moved to
the center of political life. Although this phenomenon is a global one, it has emerged
with particular force in the Middle East. In the first half of the twentieth century,
secular nationalisms were dominant throughout the region. Middle Eastern states
encouraged citizens to put aside religious differences in favor of common national
identities. Since the 1970s, the rise of Islamism has presented a serious challenge to
such political arrangements. Regimes throughout the region have been forced to grant Islam a larger role in public life. Meanwhile, non-Muslim minorities have demanded that states recognize and accommodate their distinct religious identities as well.