My work falls at the intersection of Middle East Studies, International Relations and (International) Polital Theory. I am particularly interested in sovereignty and its discontents, space, and nomos, along with the empirical manifestations of these issues. I am Director of SEPAD, the Sectarianism, Proxies and De-Sectarianization Project, funded by Carnegie Corporation, which looks at the way in which the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is shaping sectarianism and politics across the Middle East. It also explores the contestation of sectarian identities in what we have termed de-sectarianization.