Morten Valbjørn

Associate Professor

Aarhus University Aarhus University

Morten Valbjørn is associate professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, and director (with Jeroen Gunning) of TOI: 'Bringing in the Other Islamists - comparing Arab Shia and Sunni Islamism(s) in a sectarianized Middle East', SEPAD's sister project.Previously he directed the interdisciplinary research project SWAR: ‘Sectarianism in the Wake of the Arab Revolts – beyond primordialist and instrumentalist understandings of Shia/Sunni divisions in a new Middle East’. In addition to sectarianism, his research interests concern various dimensions of identity politics and the sociology of knowledge concerning the study of Middle East politics. His research has appeared in among others Democratization, Review of International Studies, International Studies Review, PS: Political Science & Politics; Middle East Critique, Middle East Report, Orient, International Review of Sociology, Mediterranean Politics, Cooperation & Conflict, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, Foreign Policy, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism; Nations & Nationalism; and The Review of Faith & International Affairs.


Key Publications

  • Valbjørn, Morten &  Jeroen Gunning (2020). "Bringing in the ‘Other Islamists’: Beyond Sunni-centric Islamism studies in a sectarianized Middle East". Mediterranean Politics
  • Valbjørn, Morten (2020). "Beyond the beyond(s): On the (many) third way(s) beyond primordialism and instrumentalism in the study of sectarianism". Nations and Nationalism, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 91-107.   
  • Valbjørn, Morten (2020). "Studying identity politics in Middle East international relations before and after the Arab uprisings", pp. 251-269 in Raymond Hinnebusch & Jasmine Gani (eds.) The Routledge Handbook to the Middle East and North African State and States System. London: Routledge.  
  • Valbjørn, Morten (2019). "Dialogues in new Middle Eastern politics – on (the limits of) making historical analogies to the classic Arab Cold War in a sectarianized new Middle East", in Lorenzo Kamel (ed.) The Middle East: Thinking About and Beyond Security and Stability. Bern: Peter Lang.
  • Valbjørn, Morten (2019). "What is so Sectarian about Sectarian Politics: Identity Politics and Authoritarianism in a New Middle East".Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, vol. 19, no. 1.
  • Hinnebusch, Raymond & Morten Valbjørn (2019). "Exploring the Nexus between Sectarianism and Regime Formation in a New Middle East: Theoretical Points of Departure". Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, vol. 19, no. 1.  
  • Phillips, C & Valbjørn, M (2018). "’What is in a Name?’: the role of (different) identities in the multiple proxy wars in Syria". Small Wars & Insurgencies, vol. 29,3.       
  • Valbjørn, M. (2018). "Unpacking a puzzling case: on how the Yemeni conflict became sectarianised". Orient,  vol. 59,2.
  • Valbjørn, M. (2017). "Bringing the ‘Other Islamists’ back in: Sunni and Shia Islamism(s) in a sectarianized new Middle East". POMEPS Studies,  no. 28 (New Analysis of Shia Politics)
  • Valbjørn, M. (2017). "Strategies for Reviving the International Relations/Middle East Nexus after the Arab Uprisings". PS: Political Science & Politics, vol. 50, no. 3.
  • Hellmann, G. &  M. Valbjørn (2017). "Problematizing Global Challenges: Recalibrating the “Inter” in IR-Theory". International Studies Review. Vol 19, 2
  • Valbjørn, M. & F. Lawson (eds.) (2015). International Relations of the Middle East (vol I-IV), London: Sage.
  • Valbjørn, M. (2015). "Reflections on Self-Reflections - On framing the analytical implications of the Arab uprisings for the study of Arab politics". Democratization, vol. 22, 2.
  • Valbjørn, M. & F. Volpi (2014). "Revisiting Theories of Arab Politics in the Aftermath of the Arab Uprisings". Mediterranean Politics, vol. 19, no. 1
  • Valbjørn, M. & A. Bank (2012). "The New Arab Cold War: rediscovering the Arab dimension of Middle East regional politics". Review of International Studies, Vol 38, no 1,
  • Valbjørn, M. (2012). "Upgrading Post-democratization Studies: Examining a Re-politicized Arab World in a Transition to Somewhere". Middle East Critique, vol. 21, no. 1
  • Valbjørn, M. (2012). "The ‘New Middle East’ and the encounter with the Global Condition: Exploring the global/regional interplay from the perspective of the New English School", pp. 171-190 in Stephan Stetter (ed.) The Middle East and Globalization: Encounters and Horizons. NY: Palgrave
  • Valbjørn, M. & A. Bank (2010). "Examining the 'post' in Post-democratization - The future of Middle Eastern Political Rule through Lenses of the Past", Middle East Critique, 19, 3
  • Valbjørn, M. (2009). "Arab Nationalism(s) in Transformation - From Arab Interstate Societies to an Arab-Islamic World Society" pp. 140-169 in Barry Buzan & Ana Gonzalez-Pelaez (eds), International Society and the Middle East - English School Theory at the Regional Level, N.Y. Palgrave

Reports from Morten Valbjørn (Show All)
SWAR project featuring SEPAD fellows publishes special issue on Sectarianism and Regime Formation Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, vol. 19, 1 (2019) - Special Issue on ‘Sectarianism and Regime Formation in a New Middle East’ Guest edited by Raymond Hinnebusch and Morten Valbjørn This special issue of Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism... Read More
Studying sectarianism while beating dead horses and searching for third ways A pivotal piece by our research fellow, Morten Valbjørn, which considers different ways of thinking about the future study of sectarianism. It discusses strategies beyond primordialism and instrumentalism, calling for a critical exploration of the debate. ... Read More
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