This publication was developed within the framework of the seminar that was organized in 2013 with the same monographic title and includes articles by noteworthy specialists who discuss the challenges of the region on a multidisciplinary basis, in light of the increasing sectarian confrontations occurring in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen.

In the form of a prologue, Barah Mikaïl, a senior researcher from the Foundation for International Relations and External Dialogue (FRIDE), provides us with a global overview of the conflict between the Sunni and Shia. In an epilogue, Alejandra Álvarez Suárez, holder of a degree in Arabic Philology from the Universidad Complutense with a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Barcelona, analyzes the current organization of religious confessions in Syria and their relationship with the order established by the Ottoman Empire for the same purpose; with an article resulting from its recent publication presented at Casa Árabe: Non-Muslim Communities in a Muslim Environment: The Survival of the Ottoman Model in Today’s Syria (Cantarabia, 2013).