The War for the Arab World
“Sunni-Shiite hatreds are the least of the Middle East’s problems — it’s the struggle within the Sunni world that will define the region for years to come.”
▻http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/23/war_for_the_arab_world_sunni_shia_hatred
The sectarian
master narrative obscures rather than reveals the most important lines of
conflict in the emerging Middle East. The coming era will be defined by
competition between (mostly Sunni) domestic contenders for power in radically
uncertain transitional countries, and (mostly Sunni) pretenders to the mantle
of regional Arab leadership. Anti-Shiism no more guarantees Sunni unity than
pan-Arabism delivered Arab unity in the 1950s. Indeed, if the vicious
infighting among Arab regimes during Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s
years is any guide, the competition between “Sunni” regimes and political
movements is likely to grow even more intense as the sectarian narrative takes
hold.