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The prophet Muhammad died in 632 AD meaning this divide between Sunni and Shia has been in existence for a long time. However the dynamics of the region and the cultural and ethnic diversity has a history that spans back to 6500 BC during the Ubaid Period in which civilizations formed from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers of present day Iraq. Because of this, the conflicts within the region are far more complex than can be viewed from young (nationalistically speaking) eyes. 

Our American eyes have been around to see firsthand 5 distinct definitive periods in our own nation’s evolution; the revolution/ independence, civil war/slavery, the World Wars, the civil rights era, and the current era of Globalization/ Proxy Non State War; all of which fall within only over 230 years.  With such a short frame of time it wouldn’t be hard to break down our own conflicts to the sources, but consider breaking down conflicts that steam from a time that’s 10 times or even 40 times the length and isn’t just political, but also religious and cultural.

One cultural group which formed long before this division amongst religious sects within Islam is the Carduchoi.  The Carduchoi originated from the ancient region of Corduene in northern Mesepotamia, present day south-eastern Turkey and Northern Iraq during 800 BC. Millennia of development from wars to imperial incursions to alliances and cultural exchange from the Persians, the era of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, The Ottoman Dynasty and the present day Middle East have defined this group that we now call the People of Kurdistan or the Kurds.   

So as the Sunni and Shia have their divide that is both religious and political, the region is one defined by its Pan-nationalism and Panethnicity. The nationalist view may push for unification by any means; however the lay of the land and the force of will by groups like the Kurds may ensure the realization that those lines may need to be redrawn.

Clyde J. Lucas, Global Research Insight and Development Strategies (GRIDS), Maxtactx Systems LLC