Visualizing the Middle East

A neat interactive graphic by Information is Beautiful depicts the network relationships among the key players in the Middle East (click on the picture to see it).

Notes:

• The amount of Sunni to Shia groups is astounding. The world simply thinks about the Muslim community as just one community, but the sectarian divides are serious among the Middle Eastern Sunni and Shia groups. Although I was aware of the sectarian divide, I dont think it was until ISIS's rise in 2014 that I began to see just how serious it can get between differing Muslim groups.
• ISIS hates...everyone? I didn't really see that coming. I knew ISIS was infamous, but I didn't think they practically had enemies all around them. Maybe this doesnt mean too much, being that al Qaeda, the group it spawned from, has way more negative connections. However, AQ has way more years of existence and picked up more negative relationships over time. 
• 'STATE OF PALESTINE": I know there are many of those out there who have sympathies for what happened to the Palestinian people as Israel grew and probably want to use the term Palestinian state as a way to recognize its existence, but its just not correct. Palestine is NOT a recognized state, and never was. If it was, then the modern day Israel probably wouldn't have existed.