Religious Minorities in the Ideology and Politics of Syria

Although the Middle East is widely associated with Islam, it is diverse in terms of religion. Syria is an example where two religious groups dominate, i.e. Muslims and Christians, which are internally diverse. The purpose of this article is to examine the position of religious minorities in the ideology and politics of Syria. Syria is not chosen by accident as the authors believe that the failure to recognize the existence of minorities and to respect their rights was one of the reasons for the civil war in Syria. The article consists of three parts. The first discusses the theoretical issues related to the definition and understanding of the notions of what constitutes a religious minority and of pan-Arabism in Syria. The next presents the complex religious pattern in country, and the last concerns the policy of the Syrian authorities, who are influenced by Arab nationalism, towards various religious groups.