US, Russia share common threat of 'new extremism'

However, recently in the Middle East and beyond, there has been an increase of inter- and intra-religious strife, escalating into a sharply
violent phase. For example, conflicts are escalating between Christians
(including Orthodox) and Muslims in the Middle East and on a wider scope,
Shiites and Sunnis (behind which stand governments often pursuing not religious
but geopolitical interests) and followers of different Sunni groups,
which pose a direct threat not only to regions close to
Russian borders, but also to Russia's internal peace.

Of course, clashes between different denominations and sects have
always existed, but they have never been so acute. Russia believes that the
United States has opened a Pandora's box, turning the Middle East into a
site of feckless, violent “regime change” engineering. As Daniel Byman has
rightly noted in global politics publication Survival, “The
massive sectarian wave began to rise after the US-led invasion and occupation
of Iraq in 2003, and grew in size and ferocity as Syria descended into strife.”

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US, Russia share common threat of 'new extremism' - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East