Rivalries and the original misunderstanding between Sunnis and Shiites go back to the origins of Islam. Politics and religion have both been at stake 14 centuries long, but facts stress that political issues and the quest for power have often been the main objectives of leaders of the Muslim world. This remains a reality today. Some States such as Saudi Arabia and Iran are trying to achieve their geopolitical and strategic objectives by pretending indirectly to a religious sectarian-based legitimacy. Reading the evolutions of the region through the only angle of sectarianism would be misleading. But the growing importance of religion in State policies is a fact that must be kept in mind when trying to understand what is really at stake in the Arab world.
Islam, Sunnis, Shiites, Arab World, Sectarianism, Iran, Saudi Arabia.