The Use of Sectarian Ties Inside Syrian Modern Political System

This article explores the concept of sects as social formations and the process of secularization sects has been undergone in the modern era, implying their exposition to political manipulation by various internal and external actors. We analyse this subject in the context of the modern Syrian State and, in particular, with reference to the political system established by President Hafez al-Asad in the 70’s. The use of sectarian ties appears as part of the regime patrimonial features, being a political strategy used in order to bind particular society’s groups to the regime. In this sense, sectarianism has nothing to do with religion and it requires to be analysed as a socio-political phenomenon. This kind of analysis permits also to confute the identification between the Asad regime and the Alawite community and to understand the complexity of the relation between the President and the community he originated from.

叙利亚危机的根源及未来政治生态

叙利亚自爆发危机以来冲突不断加剧,并日趋陷入内战。这场危机爆发固然有外部因素作祟,但更多源于叙利亚内政外交的缺陷:巴沙尔实行的经济和政治改革非但未能挽救复兴党政权,反而激化了社会矛盾,削弱了统治基础;阿拉伯政治认同具有的传导性,以及亲伊朗外交政策使叙利亚遭到西方国家和海湾国家孤立。从长期来看,叙利亚政治版图将出现"碎片化"的趋势,尚无一派政治力量可以独揽大权。叙利亚各派可能在伊斯兰化还是世俗化、联邦制还是单一制,以及库尔德人权利等问题上交锋,共同绘制叙利亚政治图景。叙利亚的未来不只决定于能否创制出适合国情的制度问题和民族和解,更决定于国际社会的作用。