ABSTRACT
Given the highly nuanced nature of sectarianism and its role in influencing tension, conflict, and violence in the wider region, the focus on sectarianism is a key framework by which most of the conflicts and violence in the Greater Middle East and South Asia are analyzed. However, prior to the contextualization of this phenomenon it is highly beneficial to understand the theoretical prisms that are used to examine sectarianism. According to Hashemi and Postel, it is important to understand the schools of thought to better explain and understand the rise of Islamic sectarianism, and the mobilization of sect-based groups, as well as the process of othering and subsequent conflict. To understand modern-day sectarianism, it is essential to move beyond explanations that focus predominantly on ancient Sunni-Shia animosities and engage in multi-disciplinary and multi-directional examinations of this phenomenon that is shaping the political and security environments of the Islamic world on state and non-state levels.
