Eclipse of the Sunnis : Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East

Overview: The Middle East is experiencing Post-Traumatic Shock-and-Awe Disorder, roiled by the unintended after-effects of the removal of a geopolitical cornerstone: Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated Iraq. "The Middle East is experiencing Post-Traumatic Shock-and-Awe Disorder, roiled by the unintended after-effects of the removal of a geopolitical cornerstone: Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated Iraq. Four million Iraqis were displaced by the conflict; two million of them left the country. Iraq's demographic balance shifted and it became a Shiite-dominated state. Jordan's Sunnis found themselves isolated and without a strong regional ally, and Lebanon's Sunnis faced an internal challenge from Hezbollah's Shiites, emboldened by the new power shift in Iraq. The rise of Iranian-backed Shiite parties and militias was predicted; the consequences of the Sunni eclipse almost entirely overlooked. Yet it is this newly displaced population that is likely to determine the future complexion of the region. Deborah Amos is a distinguished and expert reporter. In Eclipse of the Sunnis she gives voice to the experience of exile and the ongoing trauma of the dispossessed and displaced. She shows how individual stories have combined to create a new political dynamic in the Middle East that, no matter that it is of our making, we have almost no idea how to manage or control"--Book jacket Hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslims displaced or exiled by the conflict in Iraq have spread across the Middle East, unbalancing that sensitive region. From Amman to Beirut and Damascus, Deborah Amos follows the impact of one of the great migrations of modern times. The history of the Middle East tells us that one of the greatest problems of the last forty years has been that of a displaced population, angered by their inability to safely return home and resume ownership of their property—as they see it. Now, the pattern has been repeated. A new population of exiles, as large as the Palestinians, has been created. This particular displacement stirs up the historic conflict between Sunni and Shia. More significant even than the creation of colonial nation states a century ago, the alienation of the Sunni middle class has the capacity to cause resounding resentments across the region for generations to come. From Amman to Beirut and Damascus, award-winning NPR reporter Deborah Amos follows Sunnis living in exile--the largest exile population in postwar history. Husbands are separated from wives, children from parents, and many are cast into a violent and uncaring subculture in which they have few rights and no roots. Even college-educated women are forced to turn to prostitution. The decisions they make illuminate the human side of the post-conflict displacement in the Middle East and give voice to the trauma of the exiles who must choose daily between dignity and survival. An award-winning NPR correspondent illuminates the flipside of the Shia revivalthe dislocation and destabilization of the Sunni Muslimsand its impact on the Middle East.