Friday, February 03, 2006
Juan Cole on the "Shiite Crescent" todayThe January 2006 issue of Current History focuses on the Iraq War. The articles aren't available online. But if you're following the war closely, it's worth springing a few bucks for the print edition. It includes an article by the invaluable Juan Cole: A "Shiite Crescent"? The Regional Impact of the Iraq War". In it, he writes:Today, in the wake of the Bush administration's overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the character of sectarian politics in the [Middle East] region has changed dramatically. The US ouster of the Sunni dictatorship politically unleashed Iraq's Shiiie majority. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Shiite masses are appraising the new situation, becoming more restive and beginning to seek new bargains with their rulers. It is the sectarian balance within states, rather than primarily the relationship among states — though the two are obviously related — that is driving these political developments. The question thus is posed: Will newly awakened Shiite populations, less enamored of pan-Arab and secularist projects than the Sunnis, push their states toward pronounced republicanism and at least vague theocracy? ...Bush and Rummy are just doing a heckuva job there! | +Save/Share | | |
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