John McHugo

Shia reverence: portrait of Imam Husayn ibn Ali, son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, on a street in Kashan, Iran.

Islam’s ‘Toxic’ Schism

Embodied in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Sunni-Shia divide is a schism that threatens to tear the Islamic world apart. Though its origins go back to the beginnings of Islam, its present toxicity is a recent development.

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Syria: Caught in a Trap

As the Syrian crisis intensifies, John McHugo looks at the country’s troubled relationship with the West during the Cold War and the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict.