Sectarianism not solely to blame for the conflict in Syria
Describing Syria’s four-year-old civil war as simply a ‘sectarian’ conflict driven by ancient hatreds between rival ethnic and religious groups is not accurate, claims a leading expert on the Middle East. Writing in the journal Third World Quarterly , Christopher Phillips of Queen Mary, University of London, outlines the other factors – including class, ideology and other non-sect and non-state ties – which have also contributed to a conflict which has so far left over 200,000 dead. Phillips writes: “Sectarianism has