Quote:
Originally Posted by MossadConspiracy
The conflict in Lebanon is not like that. Interference from abroad has been part of it for centuries but the engines that drive the conflict are all purely local, on the level of individual villages and neighborhoods. The political conflict that you describe is ocurring within a country where identity politics defined by sect and ethnicity has been the norm for hundreds of years. Sect and politics are not separate in lebanon
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If it was purely sectarian, then the general pattern would be all sunnis versus all shias versus all christians and all druze, but thats not the on the grounds reality. There are sunnis that support shia groups and their are shias that support sunni groups and christians that support Muslims, etc. Sectarian identity is a part of the conflict, but it doesn't give a full explanation of people from different sects cooperating with people from different sects or religions.
In terms of the external influences, its clear that funding and pressure is coming from outside of the country for the political actors within the country to do so something about other groups. I'm not postulating that there is a direct command and control structure, but since its inception, the politics within Lebanon have been influenced from beyond it as well. The biggest confrontational forces in the country happen to be those who get money from two external opponents.