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Originally Posted by jinnzaman
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.
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Salam
you're right, thats a good point. Alot of other factors are involved. Nationality is one, local clan conflicts are another, and yes politics is a factor. But the biggest contributing factor is sect. The fact is, the political parties in Lebanon are almost all sectarian, or non-sectarian but just coincidentally have all of their members from a single sect. There are multiple shia parties, multiple sunni ones, multiple druze and christian ones, etc. These groups form coalitions and alliances and sometimes parties from the same sect will be on opposite sides because of rivalries they have with one another. For example, currently two druze factions are killing each other because one of them is allied to Hizbullah. Ultimately, however, these are all still parties and factions that are communal (mostly sectarian and local), and this is why Lebanese communities have been so susceptible to warlords for so many decades.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jinnzaman
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.
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The politics of all countries are influenced from beyond their borders. But its rare for a country to be in a constant cycle of disintegration and reconstitution the way Lebanon has been. There are things that are unique and specific to Lebanon that cause these things to happen so frequently there.