The deepening crisis in Lebanon initially generated a flurry of commentary claiming that Israel had become engaged in a conflict against Shia Islamist radicalism, and that its intent to defeat (Iran-backed) Hezbollah had the full support of the Sunni Arab world. The initial criticism of Hezbollah by the Sunni Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan fueled this analysis, and one op-ed piece from a U.S. newspaper published a week after hostilities broke out was titled "Iran against the Arabs." Furthermore, an advisor to Israel's defense minister recently said: "We are finally going to fight Hezbollah on the ground. The Israeli people are ready for this, and the Sunni Muslim world also expects us to fight Shia fundamentalism. We are going to deliver." But the hastily drawn conclusion that Israel's strikes in Lebanon had exposed the Sunni-Shia divide in the Middle East -- to the strategic benefit of Israel and the United States -- was incorrect. Resentment in the Arab world about the worsening situation in Lebanon is growing among both Sunni and Shia Arabs. Nevertheless, the rush to assign "good guy" and "bad guy" labels to Sunni and Shia Muslims has characterized a lot of punditry about Middle East politics for at least the last 25 years. Not only has this commentary been flawed but it has also been contradictory. As soon as geopolitical circumstances change, the positive or negative labels attributed to Sunnis and Shia are immediately reversed.
Keep reading for free!
Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:
Or, Subscribe now to get full access.
Already a subscriber? Log in here .
What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:
A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:
- Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
- Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
- Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
- Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
- The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
- Completely ad-free reading.
And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.