Read a Feb. 6, 2013, story published by BigThink.com that compares religion and the spectacle of sports.

Jean-Francois Seznec is a visiting associate professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He is an expert on democratization in the Persian Gulf region..

Read a Jan. 13, 2013, story published by Slate about a survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute that found 27 percent of Americans think that a higher power plays some role in deciding who will win sporting events.

Itamar Rabinovich is a visiting fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He is a former president of Tel Aviv University and an expert on politics in the Arab world.

Vali R. Nasr is director of the Roundtable Series on Global Islamic Politics at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is also an adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies. He is dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Relations at Johns Hopkins University and is an expert on Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, political Islam and […]

Suzanne Maloney is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She is an expert on Iran and the Gulf States and has written about religion and human rights in the region.

Steven Cook is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who is knowledgeable about politics in the Arab world, U.S.-Middle East policy, civil-military relations in the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Nathan Brown is a professor of political science and international affairs and director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is an expert on government and politics of the Middle East, democratization and constitutionalism, and the rule of law in the Arab world.

Chester L. Gillis is dean of Georgetown College, a professor in the department of theology and director of the Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He is an expert in Catholocism and the editor of The Political Papacy: John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Their Influence.