ix, 179 p. / This thesis, based on field research in Lebanon, explores how the confessional nature of the Lebanese state affects the construction of civil society. It elaborates on the state's role as a social service provider and its legal and bureaucratic relationship with the Lebanese NGO community while also exploring how the state's role as a service provider is perceived in the Lebanese media. Pulling from a variety of archival sources in Lebanon, this thesis surveys 26 Arabic language newspaper articles published between 2006 and 2008. It also utilizes a myriad of primary sources including government and donor documents, unpublished NGO studies and statistical data. This thesis argues that confessionalism inhibits the state's capacity to provide social services efficiently. The politicization of these services conditions the relationship between the state, sectarian political parties and the NGO community. This phenomenon is reproduced in the Lebanese media and allows confessional relationships to infect civil society. / Committee in charge: Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chairperson; Dr. Alexander B. Murphy, Member; Dr. Frederick S. Colby, Member

The refugee crisis has been one of the main foci in western media the last years. Many European countries are raising their concerns on the refugees and how they are not able to help them. This thesis is a desk study which seeks to examine the Syrian refugee influx upon Lebanon.  Michael Brown’s book about reasons about internal conflicts have been the guideline to mark out any eventual internal conflicts a big refugee influx can eventually stir upon a country. The thesis will try to analyse and figure out if the refugee crisis will fuel the already existing sectarian tensions in the country. The do not clearly establish whether the refugee influx in Lebanon will potentially produce a new civil war or not. The refugee crisis has proven itself to be a burden for Lebanon within many of its internal sectors and the political tensions run higher now than earlier. The possibility for a renewed civil war is therefore not impossible but at the same time it might as well be avoided completely.

The 2015 trash crisis in Lebanon resulted in the emergence of movements centered on rights and the state’s responsibility. The protests and outrage were about an entire political structure that had allowed for such a failure in infrastructure to come into existence. After numbers on the street began to fade, the alternative discourses transitioned from the streets to the May 2016 Beirut municipality elections. My research explores how these actors relate to the state as citizens (a term they themselves use) within a political structure that perpetuates a kind of sectarian citizenship, and asks what being a citizen means in such a failed state, and how alternative fronts can push for a reconceptualization of citizenship, on a backdrop of neoliberalism.

In October 2019, massive protests formed all over Lebanon, calling for an end tosectarianism. Sectarianism is a process which operates multidimensionally, politicizingreligious beliefs to create collective identities. I argue for an understanding of sectarianidentity much like an ethnic or national identity, drawing on the works of Fredrik Barth andBenedict Anderson. This system has created a sectarian incentive for the Lebanese, to act andmobilize as sectarian subjects.The Lebanese Red Cross is a member of the International Red Cross and Red CrescentMovement. The Neutrality Principle is utilized as a means to gain confidence, and therebyaccess, across all sects in Lebanon. The Lebanese Red Cross’ rigourous employment of theNeutrality Principle throughout times of war and turbulence, has rewarded them with areputation as a particularly successful National Society. Moreover, they are the onlyhumanitarian actor with national reach in Lebanon.The thesis builds on functional idea analysis and multimodal discourse analysis which hasbeen applied on inter alia anthropological monographs conducted in Lebanon, projectsinitiated by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as contentretrieved from the Lebanese Red Cross’ social media platforms.I examine the strategies employed by the Lebanese Red Cross to analyze how neutrality isconstructed in a sectarianized context. Further, I analyze how the anti-sectarianism of theOctober protests shaped the Lebanese Red Cross’ neutral stance. In sum, I find that themembers of the Lebanese Red Cross create a collective identity in the very same way as asectarian, ethnic or national identity is constructed. Through the process of differentiating, theLebanese Red Cross creates space outside the sectarian structure, where they, benefittingfrom the appreciation and recognition of their work as valuable, are allowed to be neutral.

This diploma thesis examines the prospects of the Islamic State's expansion to Libya. Using the method of process tracing, the author assesses the campaign of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and establishes 6 factors he calls ‚enablers' that played key roles in facilitating its success - the ideology, exploitation of state breakdown and governance, funding, combat know-how, propaganda, and sectarianism. He dedicates special attention to the problematics of sectarianism and the way the Islamic State made instrumental use of it in both of these countries. The author then proceeds to assess the viability of the IS enterprise in Libya, examining whether the conditions and circumstances in the country are conducive for an IS unsurgency. He identifies 8 structural conditions that underpinned the relevant enablers in Syria and assesses their relevance in Libya. Comparison of the two cases shows that except for sectarianism all the structural conditions are relevantly present in Libya which, according to J. S. Mill's method of a difference of J. S. Mill's method of a difference, should explain the stalling campaign of IS in Libya. The author proceeds to confirm this hypothesis by assessing the actual campaign of the Islamic State in Libya. He contends the Islamic State tried to follow the successful...

Since the classical work of Samuel Huntington tilted the Third Wave of Democratisation, the question of how a country becomes a democracy and why others do not have been of interest to social scientists, notably political scientists. With more than three decades since the publication of this seminal work, empirical research has focused on several regions in the world and have provided various explanation for why some countries transition to democracy and why other fail. Along these lines, this thesis attempt to study the future of democracy by focusing on an intriguing case (e.g., Iraq), a country known to have a diverse ethnic and sectarian composition, conflict-ridden but also vital to the global war against terrorism. Thus, the thesis is guided by the question, "How have foreign state actors and domestic factors affected the democratic process in Iraq, 2014-2023?" The thesis uses qualitative research methods such as process tracing and semi-structured interviews to answer this question.

This dissertation analyzes the Iraqi reconstruction period, including two pivotal moments in 2005, the ratification of the new constitution and the democratic elections, to examine issues of identity and sectarianism in Iraq. The following analysis will assist in the demystification of Iraqi sectarianism, understood to be the manifestation of an identity struggle between Sunni and Shi’a groups within Iraq, and connect this phenomenon to issues of hegemony and democracy. The discussion of Sunni and Shi‘i relations in Iraq as it relates to the Iraqi reconstruction period involves numerous areas of discipline including politics surrounding the invasion and occupation, the history of Iraq, democratic principles, secularization, democracy, and its role Islam, and of course sectarianism to name a few. These topics are supported by King’s theory of postcolonialism, aspects of Geertz’s understanding of nationalism, and Weber’s connection of power and status. The impact of the 2003 invasion of Iraq will be understood in reference to Mark Juergensmeyer’s theory of cosmic war which he offers arises when symbols become deadly and the struggle for identity becomes so intense the thought of losing this conflict is unimaginable, therefore manifesting in a conflict that cannot be solved by Western political means. Furthermore, this dissertation addresses the role secularism plays in drafting of the 2005 Iraqi constitution and the following elections. Religious violence is nothing new, and in fact it often has little to do with religion itself; rather it’s a question of political and identity representation and identifies religious violence as a tool to gain power; it is through this lens that this dissertation positions sectarianism. This dissertation provides the groundwork for future projects which highlights the truth of American bias and identity issues while using sectarianism in Iraq as a case study for debunking the myth that religious conflict is prevalent in Islam due to the backward nature of the religion and suggests how dialogue might be useful in this instance. / Religion

Proxy conflict seems to be on the rise as the contemporary form of armed conflict, particularly manifesting itself in the Middle East and North Africa. While proxy conflicts enjoy increased attention in academia, little research has focused on the type of support a sponsor provides to its proxy. This thesis contributes to the literature by asking under what circumstances does sponsor provide soft power support to proxies in proxy conflict? I employ a qualitative most-similar case design of Iran’ssupport to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) and its military wing the Badr organization in Iraq, as well as United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) support to General Haftar and the Libyan National Army (LNA) in Libya. The theoretical argument posits that mobilized sectarian bonds between sponsor and proxy facilitate a trust that induces the sponsor to provide soft power support in addition to the baseline support of hard power. The empirical findings give mixed support for the argument, as both sponsors provided soft power support, albeit at somewhat various degrees. Notably, Iran mobilized deeper and broader amongst the organizational structure of the proxy and its followers, while UAE arguably only engaged with Haftar as a strong leader but less so with NLA as an organization and its followers. Therefore, there seems to a difference in how the two sponsors penetrated their mobilization of proxies.

This study is comprised of four chapters and an Epilogue. Chapter 1 treats, by way of historical description, the founding of America's institutions of higher learning as defacto centers of evangelical Protestant indoctrination and ethos. Chapter 2 is a record of the rejection of evangelical Protestantism in the interest of making the colleges and universities nonsectarian. This was accomplished first by a gradual "broadening'' of the curricula. Later, the schools became altogether secularist in disposition. Chapter 3 recounts the factors leading to the changes in the institutions. Chapter 4 is an evaluation of competing truth claims in the aftermath of the demise of Protestantism and a review of the gains and losses that came with the change. Finally, the Epilogue is a case study of one institution that reversed the trend. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

This study is comprised of four chapters and an Epilogue. Chapter 1 treats, by way of historical description, the founding of America's institutions of higher learning as defacto centers of evangelical Protestant indoctrination and ethos. Chapter 2 is a record of the rejection of evangelical Protestantism in the interest of making the colleges and universities nonsectarian. This was accomplished first by a gradual "broadening'' of the curricula. Later, the schools became altogether secularist in disposition. Chapter 3 recounts the factors leading to the changes in the institutions. Chapter 4 is an evaluation of competing truth claims in the aftermath of the demise of Protestantism and a review of the gains and losses that came with the change. Finally, the Epilogue is a case study of one institution that reversed the trend. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)