ABSTRACT
Sectarianism seems to be central to current Middle East politics, with its internal divisions and regional alignments. It has led many commentators to see this situation as another manifestation of a historical schism between Sunnis and Shi`is going back to early Islam and perennial in the confl icts of the ‘Muslim world’ over the centuries. This is not entirely correct: sectarian differences change and mutate over the centuries, and they are politicised in diverse fashions and situations when they become political. I try here to trace the determinants of the current forms of politicisation.
