Table of Contents

The rise of minorities in the Syrian armed forces and in the Ba'th Party; sectarian polarization in the Syrian armed forces between Sunnis and religious minorities; the purge of Druze officers in the Syrian armed forces; the struggle for power within the Alawi community; sectarian and regional factionalism in the Syrian political elite - a statistical analysis; sectarian showdown - eradication of the Muslim Brotherhood; the power elite under Hafiz al-Asad.