Sunni-Shia tensions tend to rise sharply during geopolitical power struggles, such as in Iraq in 2006-2008. Prior to that, the last great Sunni-Shia battle in the Middle East involved near-constant war between the Sunni Ottoman Empire and Iran’s Shia Safavid Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
逊尼派-什叶派对峙总是会在地缘政治势力缠斗时迅速发酵，比如2006—2008年的伊拉克。前一次中东逊尼派-什叶派大斗争则是几乎横亘整个16和17世纪的逊尼派奥斯曼帝国和伊朗的什叶派萨菲帝国战争。最终结果是奥斯曼帝国险胜，最终捍卫了对伊拉克的控制。但后续冲突一直持续到两大帝国崩溃并摧毁了伊拉克，留下的是深刻的宗派割据。