Samirah Majumdar is a research associate at the Pew Research Center, where she focuses on global restrictions on religion. She is an alumnus of Barnard College and Georgetown University and the author of multiple Pew Research Center reports, including the latest study: Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down. The Middle East File podcast is a publication of the Religious Freedom Institute ..read more

Mairéad Smith is a consultant with the Coalition for Just Reparations (C4JR) and a PhD candidate at Brown University. In this conversation we discuss the C4JR Annual Report on implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law: More than "Ink on Paper": Taking Stock Three Years After the Adoption of the Yazidi [Female] Survivors Law. The report provides an overview of YSL implementation and the work of the General Directorate for Survivors’ Affairs (GDSA) in implementing the YSL, including the latest information on the verification and appeals process, application statistics, and administrative capaci ..read more

Dr. Sandra Iman Pertek is a ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She is a gender and social development specialist with over a decade’s experience in humanitarian, development, and migration settings. Her research integrates intersectional and ecological approaches for developing religious engagement with the continuum of violence in forced migration. In this conversation, we discuss her recent policy brief on the relevance of religion as both a potential factor of vulnerability and a source of resilience in settings of conflict. For additional resources see: Pertek, S., B ..read more

Farahnaz Ispahani is a Senior Fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute and joins to discuss her new book: Politics of Hate: Religious Majoritarianism in South Asia (Harper Collins, 2023).  South Asia-home to almost 2 billion people representing every major and minor religious belief-has also witnessed religious extremism, often supported by the state apparatus. In Politics of Hate, noted scholars-experts on the subject and the region discuss their research on the role of the media and political leaders in deploying hatred for political advantage, covering developments in India, Banglades ..read more

David H. Warren, lecturer in the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies department at Washington University in St. Louis, joins to discuss a new report: Tolerance, Religious Freedom, and Authoritarianism (USCIRF, 2022).  This report details how authoritarian states promote religious tolerance without necessarily ensuring freedom of religion or belief. It distinguishes between these two concepts and explains the origins of religious tolerance promotion as a tool of statecraft. The report then presents case studies of countries engaged in religious tolerance promotion, such as Azerbaij ..read more

John D. Barton, Professor of Teaching of Religion and Director, Center for Faith and Learning, Pepperdine University joins to discuss his new book Better Religion: A Primer for Interreligious Peacebuilding (Baylor University Press, 2022).  In the twenty-first century, humanity faces both unprecedented existential threats and remarkable possibilities for development. While no one knows how things will unfold by century's end, it is increasingly clear that religion will play a major role in shaping the outcomes, for better or worse. In Better Religion, philosopher and religion scholar John ..read more

Bayar Mustafa Sevdeen, Dean of External Engagement and Research at the University of Kurdistan Hewler and Dr. Thomas Schmidinger Lecturer at the University of Vienna and a Visiting Professor Politics & IR at University of Kurdistan Hewler join to discuss the recent conference Syrian Religious Communities and the Transnational War.  The conference brought together a wide range of contributors from within Syria and internationally to understand the diverse experiences of religious communities throughout the more than 11 years of conflict in Syria.  The conference was jointly organi ..read more

Haider Elias, President, Yazda, joins the Middle East File to discuss We Cannot Return: Collapsed Security Threatens the Future of Yazidis & Minorities in Sinjar co-authored by Yazda and The Zovighian Partnership and published by the Wilson Center. This first paper in a two-part series presents and recommends immediate solutions to strengthening security in Sinjar. Published by the Wilson Center, the series aims to equip national and international stakeholders with community-led and actionable recommendations to enable political support for all minority communities in Sinjar.  Re ..read more

Nury Turkel is the author of No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs (Hanover Square Press, 2022) and is interviewed by Jeremy P. Barker, Director, Middle East, Religious Freedom Institute.  Nury Turkel is an attorney, author, foreign policy expert, and advocate with nearly two decades of experience working in the intersection of law, business, government, and the human rights community. He specializes in corporate governance and regulatory compliance, national security, foreign policy, digital authoritarianism, and forced labor and supply chain risk issues. He is cur ..read more

Bob Fu is the author of The Politics of Inclusive Pluralism: Proposed Foundation for Religious Freedom in a Post-Communist, Democratic China (Pickwick, 2020) and is interviewed by Todd Huizinga, Senior Fellow for Europe, Religious Freedom Institute.  Bob Fu is the founder/president of China Aid and dedicates himself to advancing religious freedom for all in China. He earned his PhD in the field of religious freedom from the University of Durham. He is editor-in-chief of the Chinese Law & Religion Monitor Journal. Hosted in partnership with the Religious Freedom Institute (www.RFI.org ..read more