The Future of Sectarian Relations in the Middle East

Abstract

Sectarianism - particularly the Sunni-Shi'a variant - is a prominent feature of the Middle East landscape. From the civil wars raging in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, to regional competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia, to governing strategies in religiously mixed countries, sectarianism is shaping regional developments. Sectarianism, which is difficult to measure or separate from other factors with which it may be interacting, is also a focus area for the U.S. intelligence community, which is tasked with judging its salience and forecasting its evolution overtime. This Perspective is designed to assist the intelligence community by presenting scenarios for the evolution of sectarianism in the Middle East over the coming decade.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1084788

Entities

People

  • Heather E. Williams
  • Jeffrey Martini
  • William Young

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Arabia
  • Civil War
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Demography
  • Governments
  • Human Population
  • Middle East
  • Military Operations
  • Political Movements
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sectarian Violence
  • Social Sciences
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Violence

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.