Sects and Sectarianism in Middle East
MIDDLE EAST/ AFRICA
The three Middle Eastern and Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait are the focus point of this analysis. Sectarian Politics in the Gulf : From Iraq war to the Arab Uprisings by Frederic M. Wehrey is an intricate analysis of the sectarianism and violence, mainly between two Muslim sects of Shia and Sunni, in this region extending from these three countries to whole region and other regions as well.
The eight years from 2003 to 2011 were the excruciating period in the region on the basis of sectarian killings and rift. Starting from the US Invasion of Iraq in 2003 to the Arab Spring or Uprisings of 2011 these eight years almost destroyed and redrawn the map of this region.
The political and economic unrest, the partisan role of media instead of neutrality, the Lebanese conflict of 2006 ,the rise of extremists elements due to absence or weakness of the legitimate central governments, the Syrian Civil War, to name a few contributing as well exacerbating factors that wrought havoc on this region!
The analytical prism of sectarianism could not be analyzed solely on the hues of culture and religion. Instead it is an umbrella term of political, social, and economic cleavages and differences.
These differences gives a leverage both to the domestic, regional, and international players to manipulate them for themselves.
Kuwait ruling family Al-Sabah is supported by Shia Muslim minority which is a Sunni one. Bahrain's Shia community rose against the Sunni ruling family as a chain reaction of the Arab Spring in February, 2011.
The Sunni majority also joined hands with their Shia brethren in these protests. While Saudi Arabian follows an understood official policy of sectarian difference and segregation against the Shia Muslim of the kingdom reducing and limiting them in many spheres of life.
The Gulf countries and Middle East region overall is a continuous boiling point of tension and sectarianism whose religious, political and economic aftermaths affects whole world.
#middleeast #africa
