It has been more than a year since the first clashes in Syria started and the situation is subsequently turning into an epicentre of the whole Middle Eastern problems. The events in Syria become the cross of interests of various groups since many crucial, regional issues focus there. Syrian drama goes on two dimensions: internal and external. On the internal basis it is a popular uprising that aims at toppling the repressive regime. Regional consequences of these changes, though, demand revising the contemporary approaches in analysing politcs in the Middle East, in order to take into account new tendencies shaping potentially new power system. The approaches that did not allow to predict or embrace these mass movements leading to the collapse of the main political actors of the Middle East – authoritarian regimes and potential consequences of such events. These common approaches – discourses of understanding the Middle Eastern politics will be presented in the article in order to question and analyse their relevance. Adoption of this critical stance leads to more fruitful cognition of the nature of the on-going changes in the Middle East. Article’s thesis is that the notion of Sunni-Shia rivalry as the main force shaping Arab and Middle Eastern policy is not valid and efficient as an analytical tool. The objective is to emphasise multidimensionality and complexity of forces modelling contemporary Middle East.