종파주의 관점에서 본 시리아 사태

A Study on the Syrian Situation from the Viewpoint of Sectarianism

The main purpose of this article is to analyze the current Syrian situation from the sectarian viewpoint. Syria is regarded as having a minority regime, that is the minority Alawite community rules over the Sunni Arab majority(two-thirds of the Syrian population). However it can be argued that the regime exploited tribal and kinship solidarity(Alawi asabiyya) and networks to maintain the loyalty of the security sector. The rise of Syria s Alawites regime is a byproduct of French colonial policies. Initially, the Syrian protests against Bashar s regime in 2011 did not adopted a sectarian approach. However, in the ensuing protests and conflicts between anti-government protests and Bashar s regime, the sectarian rhetorics and articles came to spread into Syrian society quickly, and the sectarian identity became an important element in the interpretation of 2011 protest and escalation of violence between them later. This article wants to analyze why the perception of sectarianism did prevail so quickly, and why the main groups of protests did fail to persuade Syrian people that their purpose of protest against the regime was to make One Syria . Finally, this paper will demonstrate some possible suggestions to overcome future Sunni-Alawite conflicts, to maintain social stability and political equilibrium in the future.