... Gulf War of 1991, the latter of which led to a change in the domestic policy of President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and thus brought about new dynamics in the relations between the Iraqi government and the country’s ethnoreligious groups (mainly the Shiites and the Kurds). Iraq was under an embargo imposed by the United Nations at the time, which limited access to resource distribution for a part of the elite and, combined with the government’s practices that marginalized a part of the population,...
... political system, which could not be reduced to a parliamentary-presidential republic, and the electoral system and process were riddled with pitfalls that gave rise to inevitable cataclysms.
The real ethnic and denominational situation resulted in the Shiites dominating the political spectrum, which entailed severe political consequences. For the first time, the Sunnis found themselves in a position of the ethnic-denominational minority. They felt the growing inferiority of their situation, which prompted ...
... cross-border non-governmental actors in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and — some analysts believe — Yemen. [
2
]2 Some experts explain Iran’s policy by its desire to consolidate a fairly large territory in the Middle East predominantly populated by Shiites. The very term Shiite Crescent, coined by King Abdullah II of Jordan, has been
used widely
by the Arab media (such as Qatar’s Al Jazeera) and in Israeli publications, and has caught on in the English-language press. In reality, however, Iran’s ...
Now it is Lebanon’s Turn to Become the Stage for Saudi Arabia to Resolve its Regional Issues
On November 4, 2017, Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri announced his resignation on Saudi television. In his speech, Hariri
accused Iran
of spreading discord in the region, motivated by hatred for Arabs, and called Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement “Iran’s arm in Lebanon and other Arab countries” (meaning, of course, Syria).
The Lebanese politician, who holds Saudi citizenship and owns
Saudi Oger
(a construction...
... parliamentary representation, the Al-Ahrar Bloc. Ahmed al-Sadr holds meetings with influential Iraqi politicians, people with different views and faiths. His action have led to a “blurring” of the National Iraqi Alliance — the body that gave the Shiites a majority in the county’s decision-making process.
The Sadrist Al-Ahrar Bloc distanced itself from a coalition with the State of Law Coalition headed by the influential former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and moved towards rapprochement with ...
Pursuing an active policy in Syria up to direct involvement in the military conflict seems to be bringing Moscow both fresh opportunities and new risks, both internal and external, that range from the palpable to the obscure.
Risks
The most obvious risks are image-related. While the denigration of Russia in Western media has become routine in recent years, the perception of Russia in the Arab and Islamic information field has always been more nuanced. While some TV channels (Al-Arabia, Al-Jazeera...
... numerous ungoverned
grey zones
attracted al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a powerful regional terrorist organization that is gaining ground in this snowballing crisis.
The regional narrative suggests that Yemen presents a battlefield for the Iran-led Shiites and Saudi Arabia, the self-proclaimed Sunni leader. The two countries are generally seen by pundits as regional rivals in many different locations from Syria and Lebanon to Bahrain and Yemen. To this end, the Houthi success seems to hurt the Saudis ...
... dialogues are keeping the government functioning; however, not addressing core issues like electing a president, holding parliamentary elections and forming a new government will lead to continuous institutional deadlock.
AFP / LOUAI BESHARA
Elena Suponina:
Shiites and Sunnis: The Danger of Major War
from Syria to Pakistan
These dialogues cannot substitute political institutions. In the current situation, the government’s response towards pressing developments has been weak at best. Recently, Islamist ...
... several decades. And now the main theater for this confrontation lies in Iraq, whose western and central regions have become home to the Islamic State (IS), territory claimed by a group of radical Islamists
[22]
.
AFP / LOUAI BESHARA
Elena Suponina:
Shiites and Sunnis: The Danger of Major War
from Syria to Pakistan
Emergence of a major Islamist entity in close proximity to its borders constitutes a direct threat to Iran's national security. Hence, sources suggest, Iranian troops have already entered ...
... one still lacking efficiency. Saudi Arabia could neither promote anti-Iranian integration under the Council, nor involve a country with combat-ready armed forces (chiefly Jordan and Morocco).
Removing Nuri al-Maliki
AFP / LOUAI BESHARA
Elena Suponina:
Shiites and Sunnis: The Danger of Major War
from Syria to Pakistan
Destabilization of Iraq – the “pearl” in the sphere of Iranian influence – takes on particular significance as the third tool to curb Iran.
Given the serious setbacks,...