NurPhoto SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved.The primordialist assumption that the war in Syria is of an exclusively sectarian nature is fundamentally flawed. Sectarianism may be a component in the conflict, however its role as a generating cause of the unrest falls under scrutiny.
The brutal conflict now approaching its sixth year is generally considered sectarian in character, as a popular majority Sunni struggle against a minority led government, but this is highly simplistic and ignores the significant cross-religious attachments and ties which have served as the greatest counter-reaction to sectarianism in Syria.
There is no evidence to suggest that in the lead up to the 2011 uprising, sectarianism was rife in Syria, or that the country’s religious groupings were at breaking point.
