Confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis in the Middle East: history of the question and analysis of the contemporary state of affairs
The confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis in the Middle East region is not a new phenomenon and has almost 14 centuries. How ever, the most extensive forms of the Sunni-Shiite conflict acquired in the context of the events of the «Arab spring» and began to pose a clear threat not only to regional security, but also to international security. In recent years, in connection with the geopolitical competition of regional play ers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, a political component has been added to the religious context of the Sunni-Shiite confrontation. The civil war in Syria, the difficult political situation in Lebanon, the unrest in Yemen, Bah rain, Iraq, the creation Of the Islamic state Caliphate in the occupied lands of Iraq and Syria, all this is in one way or another is the result of the con frontation between the two currents of Islam in the Middle East.