The 20th century was a time in the Middle East when nominally secular dictators espousing notions of pan-Arabism -- the ideology of uniting the "Arab World" and downplaying or crushing the different cultural aspects of the region's innumerable sectarian groups -- reigned supreme. However, as we continue past the first decade of the 21st century, the regional picture is changing. In 2003, the pan-Arabist dictator Saddam Hussein was deposed in Iraq. In 2005 occupying Syrian forces under another pan-Arabist, Bashar al-Assad, were forced out of Lebanon. Now the Arab Spring is demonstrating the Middle East's new Islamist future.
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