The "Shia Halfmoon", the numbers shows the percent of Shia in the population

Shia Halfmoon is used as political and geo-political term to descripe the different countries who's majority is shia or who had a strong shia minority in the population. Is often used to discripe the potential of a cooperation of these countries in the middle east policy. Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... A policy is a plan of action to guide decisions and actions. ...

Links:

• Le Monde diplomatique: Die Schiiten und ihr Kampf um Gott (German)
• Deutsche Welle: Die Hisbollah in der arabischen Misstrauensfalle (German)
• Brockhaus: Ulrich Ladurner: Machtpoker am Persischen Golf (German)
• Der Tagesspiegel: Der schiitische Halbmond (German)
• Vali Nasr: When the Shiites Rise in: Foreign Affairs July/August 2006