The creation and strategic utilization, and selective sectarianization of sacred history is a key component of contemporary conflicts between competing social movements and armed groups around the world. This article highlights the deployment of competing historical narratives in the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq using the concept of "framing."

A sampling of recent news and notes from the Belfer Center.

If any single group is 'winning' the Syrian conflict online, it appears to be the ideologues of division, religious intolerance and sectarian hate.

"Jabhat al-Nusra has long been one of the most militarily effective armed actors against the Syrian Ba’thist regime and it continues to play a central role in the country's civil war. With a leadership that mixes the transnational jihadi ideology of al-Qaeda with Syria-specific interests, the group is also at the forefront of battling the Islamic State in Syria."