Mr. Joko is also facing pressure from lingering sectarian tensions in Indonesia, where members of the Muslim majority have embraced a more conservative form of the faith.

So the Saudi regime is divided, its legitimacy is questioned, and sectarian tensions are growing. Moreover, while oil export revenue is booming, the neighborhood is in revolutionary flames.

True, sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq have escalated since the fall of Saddam. But contrary to common perception, Iraqi Shiites do not form a homogenous block that opposes the supposedly unified Sunnis.

Syria s Sectarian Stalemate

These population movements are exacerbating preexisting social tensions across the Arab world. In Lebanon, for example, the arrival of more than one million Syrians has sparked worries that the country s sectarian balance could be altered, undermining its fragile political system.

The issues were, of course, ethnic sectarian violence.

Would you like to see civil war, sectarian killing?

PRINCETON What began in Syria as a revolt against an oppressive regime has evolved into a sectarian civil war and, more recently, into a proxy conflict. In the process, the struggle has become increasingly convoluted, with conflicting agendas among allies, together with deep seated communal tensions, rendering the situation nearly intractable.

Furthermore, fallout from relentless regional conflict is destabilizing Lebanon, a country that offers Christians a constitutional guarantee of political representation. Some 400,000 refugees many of them Sunni Muslims, including fugitive rebels have poured over the border from Syria, exacerbating sectarian tensions and threatening to disrupt Lebanon s delicate social and political balance.

Sunni ministers who had been boycotting the government since last year have returned to their posts. Thus, Iraq is seeing both escalating intra sectarian violence and cautious steps towards inter sectarian alliances.

Given this, Turkey s main objective now is to prevent a military intervention against Iran. From Turkey s perspective, an Israeli or American strike against Iran s nuclear facilities would destabilize the region further, as Iran would undoubtedly retaliate by fueling sectarian tensions and undermining the prospects of a settlement in both Syria and Iraq.

For some, it will lead to anger, religious and sectarian violence and terrorism.

Expressed the strong desire that these elected bodies will be fully instrumental in pursuing and completing the political transition in an inclusive, transparent and democratic manner, in national unity and harmony, immune from ethnic and sectarian tensions, which will ensure effective participation of the entire spectrum of the Iraqi people in the political, economic and social rebuilding of Iraq.

High Tensions In the Low Countries

Tensions will arise from such interactions.

They would bring prosperity, security, overcome sectarian violence, ensure that states would never again harbor terrorists.

Syria s internal conflict has now become a Sunni Shia sectarian war that is spreading across the region. The Sunni clerics who have just declared a jihad against the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, and its sectarian allies are the voice of millions across the Muslim world.

We want to neutralize the tensions. We want closeness.

A split within the Jumbesh organization has increased factional tensions.

Those arms fuel underlying tensions, exacerbate conflicts and hamper peacebuilding efforts.

The Governor's return has contributed to tensions within the local administration.

You begin to look at things having to do with your tensions.

Tensions between the 200,000 Sudanese refugees and Chadian host communities remain high.

What tensions and pressures would be created during the inevitable subsequent steps?

In the United States of America, neofascist organizations also were abundant, which disseminated their racist, xenophobic and sectarian propaganda throughout the media.

Will there be tensions over immigration, or conflicts over competition for limited resources?

If not carefully managed, it can also provoke acute social and political tensions.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, tensions are either escalating or are brewing dangerously.

The Shia Sunni divide has existed from the dawn of Islam, but the geographical and ethnic isolation of non Arab Shiite Iran, together with Sunni Arab countries dominance of their Shia minorities, mostly kept this rivalry in the background. These tensions further receded in the tide of the Islamization created by the Iranian revolution, for in its wake Arabs sectarian identity as Sunni was pushed further into the background as a generalized Islamic assertiveness appeared.

Significant measures must be taken, including the active involvement of neutral international agencies and observers to keep the government in check and ensure that voters can have their say. We are hopeful that Iraqis, who have had their fill of sectarian political parties, will be allowed freely to choose candidates who embrace a non sectarian and non racist agenda.

With Shia dominated Iran providing weapons, money, troops, and training for Assad s forces, the conflict s sectarian dimension has taken on greater significance. 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.

Many commentators, indeed, were stunned by the rapidity with which tensions returned to the international system. While many blame US behavior, these tensions have in fact been fueled by the unfolding of a new logic in international politics.

This is producing all sorts of tensions, all sorts of dynamics that are deeply disturbing.

The ambiguous nature of education in indigenous communities continues to generate tensions and conflict today.

In southern Katanga, there is concern that ethnic tensions may intensify during the electoral process.

Ethnic and inter communal tensions are exacerbated by media campaigns against segments of the population.

Those areas are also prone to environmental degradation and tensions between host communities and newcomers.

Regardless of religious and sectarian backgrounds, it is in the interest of every Iraqi to contribute to forging a broad political consensus on the way forward.

A series of incidents last week escalated tensions along the Blue Line to an alarming degree.

As in Ituri, the repercussions of these tensions had their greatest impact on the civilian population.

It led to a significant increase in tensions, with the Forces nouvelles reinforcing their defensive positions.

Therefore, we urge the parties to implement the measures necessary to prevent any further escalation of tensions.

Each time that tensions had begun to lessen, however, the two parties would again spiral into violence.

In North Kivu, although the ceasefire between opposing FARDC units around Kanyabayonga has held, tensions remained high.

In addition, the recruitment of nationals from the region might contribute to socio political tensions between States.