The Amplification of the Sunni-Shia Divide Through Contemporary Communications Technology

Abstract

The Sunni-Shia divide has once more returned to the global popular lexicon. However, this contemporary form of the allegedly age-old schism within Islam in fact differs significantly from historical cases. It has primarily come to the fore again as various actors have invoked it, and the fear it brings, in order to frame the conflicts they currently wage both overtly and covertly in more favourable terms. The purpose of this chapter is to examine this phenomenon, with particular focus on the Syrian Civil War, and the wider regional struggles for hegemony. It will further look at how modern communication technologies have permitted actors to spread their narratives much more effectively than ever before, and how the international community might arrest the exacerbation of this divide, and slow the sectarian violence currently plaguing the region.