Has the region been sectarianized? Yes.

The new Iraqi army can hardly be called non sectarian.

The war has pulverized Iraqi society, dissolving it into an ethno sectarian patchwork.

Failing to secure the lives of all Bahrainis, regardless of their sect, is a sectarian statement in itself.

The Ontario public school system offers quality education to all Ontario residents without discrimination on a non denominational basis.

But, in the longer term, those limits on federal power will push Iraq toward a sectarian scramble for power and revenue.

The current dynamic isn't a conflict of sectarianism but a willful and cynical sectarianization of a regional power struggle. Iyad El Baghdadi ( iyad_elbaghdadi) January 13, 2016

Syria powerfully demonstrates how a fight against a dictator can soon turn into a sectarian struggle for survival or mastery.

It fails to acknowledge that Bahrainis who rose against the regime did not do so because they were Shia and the regime was Sunni.

To which Max Blumenthal responded by accusing Taglit, the 'birthright' agency that organizes trips to Israel for young Jewish adults around the world, of being a sectarian training program

El Baghdadi further explains the divide and conquer rift is political in nature and a willful and cynical sectarianization of a regional power struggle. He tweets

The main battlefront for detractors of the Shahbag protests is now public perception, and this can have deadly consequences in a society where religious tension is constantly smoldering.

But, with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki s government widely considered to be another authoritarian and sectarian regime, Iraq has not been able to gain any soft power.

Indeed, government forces have devolved into a sectarian army, motivated by the fear that, if the largely Sunni rebels are victorious, they will annihilate the Shia affiliated Alawite minority that has ruled Syria for decades.

Whatever the true figure, the involvement of large numbers of Iraqis is not the secret it was in the early months of Syria's civil war, which is now being fought along a sectarian faultline.

Contrasting the findings of these surveys demonstrates that over the two years when sectarian violence has increased, Iraqis increasingly view their fate in a national, rather than communal, context.

It was a common practice for individuals to judge any communal disagreement privately and use force to resolve it. Such behaviour often led to social disorder or social conflict.

More broadly, with Syria s civil war destabilizing Lebanon and threatening to do the same in Jordan, and with Iraq plagued by similar sectarian violence, the military coup in Egypt appears to herald the end of the Arab revolutions, at least for the time being.

More broadly, with Syria s civil war destabilizing Lebanon and threatening to do the same in Jordan, and with Iraq plagued by similar sectarian violence, the military coup in Egypt appears to herald the end of the Arab revolutions, at least for the time being. Everywhere, the signs are pointing backwards.

In 2004 and 2006, I was involved in conducting two nationwide public opinion surveys in Iraq. Contrasting the findings of these surveys demonstrates that over the two years when sectarian violence has increased, Iraqis increasingly view their fate in a national, rather than communal, context.

To be sure, Hezbollah is still grudgingly respected for its ability to stand up to Israel. But it has lost its halo as a voice for the oppressed and downtrodden, and has exposed itself as a partisan and sectarian party that will side with Iran and its allies even at the expense of human rights and human lives in neighboring Syria.

The US did not offer any clear indication of what it thought should follow such an outcome, apart from some kind of election process, which in a largely sectarian conflict like Syria s would amount to nothing more than an elaborate census.