With its nuclear programme, it emerged as the new regional power, influencing not only the outcome of the Iraq war but also interfering in the fabric of Arab society and politics through its patronage of Shia communities and Sunni political groups, notably Hamas.
The involvement of the regional Sunni powerhouses is designed to counter that narrative and assure Sunnis of alternative means of support, despite the near collapse of governance across the Levant states of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Sharaa is the most senior Sunni Muslim figure in Assad's minority Alawite-led government and he has a reputation for living modestly and not being corrupt.
Muslim dismay at Tony Blair's co-invasion of Iraq in 2003 did not sway that decision, though it could be argued that anti-war sentiment inhibited proper post-invasion occupation planning and encouraged the Sunni insurrection against both invaders and Shia Muslims.
Syria's links to the Sunni insurgency in Iraq had been regularly raised by US officials in Baghdad and by the Iraqi government.
He said hundreds of young men like him, who were drawn to a Sunni jihad after the US invasion, do not believe that the latest manifestation of the decade-long war remains true to its origins.
The location of the major spectacular attacks appears closely related to al-Qaida's ability to focus the dispersed energies of contemporary Sunni Islamist extremism.
The Hazara are Shia Muslims and are frequently targeted by extremists from among the Sunni majority in Pakistan.
The west looked to Saudi Arabia but failed to see how poor Abdullah's credentials were, even among Sunni Muslims in the region.
The Saudis – the king's formal title is "guardian of the two holy places" (of Mecca and Medina) – bill themselves as the leaders of the Sunni Muslim world, a role that has taken on increased significance in the face of the jihadi threat and the atmosphere of sectarianism across the region.
A Sunni village near the frontline was deserted, doors and windows smashed and many houses burned, the walls scribbled with pro-army slogans.
