An Explanation of the Role of Religion in the Middle East from a Geopolitical Angle: A Case Study on Shiism

Islam in the Muslim countries acts as the main factor creating linkage and cohesion among the people who have ethnic, religious and lingual differences. Islam seems to have been interlocked with society and government more than the other religions do. This close link with society and government provides Islam with an added capacity as a cultural force different from the West. After the collapse of communism, no specific set of beliefs among the world nations and in a vast geographical area such Islam has opposed the West in a systematic and definite way. Moreover, the Middle East is the only geographical region that has seen Western military intervention in the past decade. In the Middle East, Shiism and Sunnism have frequently challenged each other as cultural and doctrinal clashes between the followers of these two denominations are always visible. The Shia population is strategically located at the heart of largestoil-rich area in the Middle East across the oil corridors of the Persian Gulf. This fact has led to the West’s sensitivity to the Shia geopolitics.