Iraq's Sunni-Shiite DivideAbout Governance
Iraq needs a political solution that recognizes the grievances of Iraq's Sunni populations and regions, Harith Hasan writes.
There are two conflicting trends at the core of the sectarian dispute that is intensifying in Iraq.
The first trend is influenced by domestic political considerations pertaining to the failure of the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish forces to develop a governance and state administration formula that would reduce the sense of marginalization or exclusion by some parties that could lead to the division of the country.
The second trend is influenced by regional dynamics, and is represented by the more sectarian Sunni and Shiite groups. These groups see the current conflict in Iraq as an integral part of the wider conflict taking place in the Levant region divided between a Sunni camp led or supported by Sunni regional powers such as Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and a Shiite camp led by Iran.
As a result, the greater the disagreement and difficulty to reach an internal Iraqi solution, the greater the power of radical groups, and thus the impact of their narrative, which tends to portray the situation as a Sunni-Shiite cosmic struggle that does not recognize existing borders or internal environments.
