1、CRS InsightsConflict in Syria and Iraq: Implications for Religious MinoritiesChristopher M. Blanchard, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs (cblanchardcrs.loc.gov, 7-0428)July 24, 2014 (IN10111)Conflict in Syria and Iraq is causing particular suffering for religious minorities in the countries diver
2、sesocieties, leading some Members of Congress to call for increased action by the U.S. government.Syrias civil war has displaced half the population of 22.4 million and has placed extreme pressure oninter-communal relations. For decades, the countrys authoritarian government has been led in largepar
3、t by members of the Alawite religious minority, who have sought to cultivate the regimes image asa guarantor of a non-sectarian society while manipulating group identities and stifling dissent to stay inpower. Syrias citizenry is mostly Sunni Muslim, but it includes a multi-denomination Christian mi
4、nority,smaller Druze and Shiite Muslim communities, and members of other faiths. The political uprising thatpreceded the conflict in 2011 started in mainly Sunni Muslim areas but was not overtly sectarian innature. However, the government labelled activists as extremists and terrorists and has indis
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