Turmoil has seized much of the Muslim world. In Syria, a brutal war has already taken 250,000 lives, displaced half of the country's 21 million people, and sent a million refugees to Europe seeking asylum. In Yemen, the Houthi tribe has risen up against the government, and are now facing Saudi-led airstrikes. Conflicts like these reflect a number of factors, the most prominent of which are the conflicts between Islam's two sects, Sunni and Shiite, and between fundamentalists and reformists.
Syria's regime enjoys the support of Shiite powers, especially Iran, whose regional influence depends on a Shiite regime remaining in power. And that is precisely why Sunni powers — most prominently Saudi Arabia — are committed to toppling that regime. Yemen's government, by contrast, is Sunni-led, and thus has Saudi Arabia's support, hence the bombings of the Iran-backed Shiite Houthis. Unsurprisingly, tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have intensified lately, a trend that culminated in the severing of diplomatic relations over Saudi Arabia's execution of a popular Shiite cleric.
The chaos fueled by these conflicts — and by instability in other countries in the region, such as Afghanistan and Iraq — has enabled the rise of some truly contemptible forces, beginning with the Islamic State group. That group has gained so much influence that U.S. generals have asked President Barack Obama to authorize additional troops to join the fight against it. Moreover, there are reports that the United States may postpone the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, where an increasingly brutal war against the government has enabled the Taliban to gain territory and created an opening for IS to become active. IS has also penetrated Pakistan.
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