The article investigates recent developments and changes to the Middle Eastern regional security complex. The regional security complexes theory (RSCT) assumes that security problems rarely impact on large distances and that similar threats occur mostly in specific regions. According to RSCT, the Middle East is a typical conflict formation, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraqi crisises being the biggest problems and most serious threats to the regional security. The author argues, however, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does no longer play a major role in the regional security, and the recent crisis in Iraq, although still important, has completely different character than it had previously. Security of the Middle Eastern regional complex is now shaped and challenged by a different set of factors. This includes primarily the impact of the rising Sunni-Shiite hostility, growing popularity and importance of Islamic fundamentalism, as well as the instability and unpredictability of local political regimes.
