Syria: The creation of an unbridgeable divide
Syria's civil war is now strongly characterised by militias identifying along sectarian lines. The growing divide between Sunnis and Alawites has profound implications for Syria, and the Middle East
The transformation of the Syrian Revolution from a nonviolent and inclusive pro-democracy protest movement into a civil war, pitting majority-Sunni and majority-Alawite militias against each other in deadly daily clashes throughout the country, has been a slow and complex process driven in equal measure by domestic as well as external factors. But while much analysis has addressed the role of external factors, there are certain aspects of the domestic dynamics that remain unexamined, in particular the evolving ethos driving Sunni and Alawite fighters.
Indeed, the very nature of the ruling Assad regime that the protesters challenged contributed to the increasing sectarian character of the conflict. The Alawite community, from which the Assads hail, is a minority sect that mixes Shiite doctrine with indigenous tribal beliefs and Christian rituals, representing 10-12% of Syria’s population. The sect has long been considered heretical by the majority Sunni community, and was actively marginalized and persecuted by the Ottomans who never included the Alawites in the famous millet system that regulated the lives of all confessional minorities under their rule. Indeed, for centuries Alawites lived a very sheltered existence in the coastal mountains of northern Lebanon, Syria and southern Turkey (Hatay Province). Their access to state services, including education, was quite limited, rendering the overwhelming majority illiterate. Moreover, in time, Alawite doctrine became secretive and reserved only for male initiates, creating an additional layer of separation between Alawites and their neighbors and adding to the mutual distrust.
In that “splendid isolation,” at least, in the psychological sense, an Alawite culture that is inimical to change and deeply suspicious of otherness evolved. In the modern era, Alawite women often worked as farmers and servants in the households and plantations of more privileged Sunni and Christian families, while men worked as laborers and smugglers.
Growth of a system
This state of affairs lasted until the advent of the French occupation in 1920. The French found the Alawites more willing to join the ranks of the “national” army they tried to create for Syria. Minority communities in general found cooperation with the French to be productive, but Alawites in particular found in the army an avenue for socio-economic advancement they had never had before. As the French prepared to grant Syria independence, many Alawite tribal elders lobbied for a separate state along the coast, but Sunni leaders from the coast and other parts of Syria managed to convince them to remain part of a united Syria. In the province of Hatay, however, Turkish and Alawite inhabitants voted to join Turkey in a popular referendum held on June 29, 1939. Although the Turkish army had expelled many of the Arab inhabitants of Hatay back in 1938, including Christians, Sunnis and Alawites, Turkish authorities later managed to create an alliance with the remaining Alawite inhabitants.
After Syria’s independence on April 17, 1946, Alawites continued to flock to the army. Following a series of coup d’états, a group of Alawite officers affiliated with the Baath Party mounted a coup that brought them to power on March 8, 1963. In time, one of these officers, Hafiz Al-Assad, emerged as the strongest and consolidated his grip on power in a new coup on November 13, 1970.
Under Assad's rule, Alawites emerged for the first time as a political and social force in the country. Assad relied on them heavily to man his military and security apparatuses. All key positions were assigned to Alawites, and all elite units were almost exclusively made up of Alawite recruits. In time, and through the usual system of nepotism, Alawites became over-represented in all public sector jobs. The slow economic openness and reforms introduced in the 1990s allowed Alawite businessmen and the children of Alawite generals to win state contracts and become part of the economic power elite as well. The power transfer to Bashar Al-Assad that took place in 2000 after the passing of his father, Hafiz, accelerated and consolidated this trend allowing the Assad family and its immediate allies in the Alawite community to assume direct control over the most promising economic sectors in the country. Still, and as a result of an intentional policy on the part of the Assads, the Alawite mountainous heartland remained underdeveloped as part of a strategy meant to encourage Alawites to move into major cities far from the coast... Read more:
