Analysis of Syria Crisis from Social Cleavages Perspective

From 1990s onward, socio-political struggles and cleavages mainly have been turned in to regional, ethnic and religious- based and excluded from merely classic nature. By attention to impacts of globalization and information & communication revolution, identities and non-classic agents have been become more aware and politicized by aim of emancipation and involving in politics. In this research, the authors try to give analytical answers to this question: from social cleavages perspective and related crisis, what are the roots of Syria crisis and civil war? Hypothesis is: from this theoretical perspective, the Syria crisis’s roots or factors consist of, identity crisis, dissatisfactions and politicization of religious identities (mainly Sonnies in majority) and partly ethnic identities (Kurds), state-building and legitimacy crisis and genesis of ISIS group. The main findings of this research are that: the Syrians religious-ethnic movement with emphasis on Sonnies in 2011 has been rooted in rooted identity and legitimacy crisis and non-overarching state-building, but this movement was deviated quickly from reformist nature into riot and civil war, because of negative involvement of regional and supra-regional powers, impatience of Bashar Assad’s government and the dominancy of power-based and Tkfiri-Jihaddi leaders and mainstreams on the movement.