Plantilla Tesis A4
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The politics of discrimination A comparative study of the situation of Christian Arab minorities in Egypt and Syria Hani Marwan Anouti UPF DOCTORAL THESIS / 2018 THESIS DIRECTOR Dr. Javier Astudillo Ruiz Department of Political Science ii To my forthcoming treasure... iii Acknowledgments With interminable appreciation and respect, I cannot but be grateful for everyone who supported me throughout this academic journey. It is with no doubt that this thesis could not have been finalized without the support of a virtual team who was not enrolled in this PhD program. To Lamia and Marwan, I do not know if these words are enough to pay you back for your endless support and motivation. I also do not know if this thesis is the good result of how you have raised us. To Malek, the one who has never failed to believe in me, I hope we can one day again, live together in the same city. To my special and only Aya, I do not know what to say…but without you by my side this work could not have been done. And to the rest of my family who believed in me, I send you immense recognition. To General Ghassan Balaa, you are a real mentor and a sea of support and motivation. Without you General, many interviews could definitely not have been conducted. As for Mr. Osama Saffar, the one who stood by my side during my worst days, I hope one day I can reward you back with a portion of your kindness. Gen. Balaa and Mr. Saffar, my deepest and honest regards go out to you both. It is with no doubt that this thesis could not have been written and finalized without the advice, support and feedback of my advisor Dr. Javier Astudillo Ruiz. My sincere appreciation to his work, guidance and academic supervision is enormous. I honestly consider myself lucky to have been supervised by Dr. Astudillo Ruiz. Additionally, I would like to grab this opportunity to thank the university, the Political Science department, and the Academic Committee. Furthermore, my special thanks and regards go out to the committed staff in the Secretariat of the Political Science department. To my colleagues in the PhD program, I cannot but wish you the very best. To my special amigos Bolivar Portugal and Stephano Filauro, I will miss our discussions and shared support. Finally, I would like to thank every interviewee that contributed to this thesis – without your input the thesis could not have been done. v vi Abstract This thesis investigates the puzzle of why the level of discrimination against religious minorities was higher in Egypt than in Syria, and therefore why the transition from "Arab" nationalism to "re-Islamization" of politics was greater in the first country than in the second (at least prior its civil war). The answer is the different survival strategies used by these dictatorships in front of the emergence of a strong Islamist opposition that questioned the existence of these secular Arab regimes. In addition, these strategies depend on the congruence or not between the religious identity of the ruling elites and the majority of the population. When the elite in power have the same religious identity of the majority combined with an important Islamist challenge, the levels of religious discrimination will be high. When the elite-population identity does not match, or when the Islamist challenge is contained, religious discrimination will be smaller. vii Resumen Esta tesis investiga la paradoja de por qué el nivel de discriminación contra las minorías cristianas árabes fue mayor en Egipto que en Siria, y por tanto por qué el paso del nacionalismo “árabe” a la “reislamización” de la política fue mayor en el primer país que en el segundo (hasta el comienzo de su Guerra Civil). La explicación se encuentra en las diferentes estrategias de supervivencia utilizadas por sus dictaduras ante la aparición de una fuerte oposición islamista que cuestionaba la existencia de los regímenes árabes seculares. La variación de estrategias se debe a su vez a la mayor o menor congruencia entre la identidad religiosa de las élites gobernantes y la mayoría de la población. Cuando la identidad religiosa población-elite coincide y se da un importante desafío islamista, la discriminación será alta. Cuando no coincide, o no se da el desafío islamista, la discriminación religiosa será menor. Index Page Abstract .................................................................................................. vii List of figures.......................................................................................... xv List of tables............................................................................................ xvi List of boxes............................................................................................ xviii CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION: THE INTEREST OF STUDYING THE DISCRIMINATION OF CHRISTIANS IN TWO ARAB COUNTRIES 1.1 Minorities in the Arab Region – In Brief....................................... 1 1.1.1 A short summary of the Christian presence in Syria and Egypt after the First World War........................................................................ 6 1.1.2 A puzzle: not all Christians are treated in the same way in the Arab region............................................................................................. 7 1.2 Case-selection justification: why comparing Syria with Egypt?... 8 1.3 Main research Questions................................................................ 9 1.4 Theoretical and empirical contribution.......................................... 10 1.5 Academic review............................................................................ 11 1.6 Research methodology and data collection.................................... 12 1.6.1 Methodology used.......................................................................... 12 1.6.2 Interviewees description and selection criteria.............................. 13 1.6.3 Method used in the interview......................................................... 14 1.6.4 Ethical consideration...................................................................... 15 1.6.5 Limitation and impediments of conducting the research............... 16 1.7 Thesis division................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 2: POLITICAL REGIMES AND MINORITIES – AN UNBALANCED TREATMENT 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 19 2.2 Definitions used in the thesis......................................................... 20 2.2.1 Political regimes............................................................................. 20 a) Definition of autocracies according to Polity IV........................... 21 b) Definition of democracies according to Polity IV......................... 21 c) Definition of semi-democracies according to Polity IV................ 22 2.2.2 Definition of minority.................................................................... 22 2.2.3 Definition of politicization and its forms....................................... 22 a) Definition of politicization of religion........................................... 23 b) Definition of politicization of ethnicity......................................... 23 2.2.4 Definition of discrimination and its forms..................................... 23 a) Definition of political discrimination............................................. 23 b) Definition of economic discrimination.......................................... 24 c) Definition of cultural discrimination.............................................. 24 d) Definition of religious discrimination............................................ 24 2.2.5 Definition of repression.................................................................. 24 2.3 The Political regimes and the discrimination of minorities........... 25 x 2.3.1 General view between political regimes and minorities................ 25 a) The general pattern of the relation between regime types and level of discrimination: the more democratic, the better? ...................... 25 b) The level of discrimination according to type of discrimination for all regime types.................................................................................. 27 c) The pattern of level of discrimination according to regime types and types of discrimination...................................................................... 27 d) The pattern of discrimination against different types of minorities, different types of regimes and different types of discrimination........................................................................................... 28 d.1) Inheritance dilemma....................................................................... 30 d.2) The Arab context ......................... ................................................. 31 2.3.2 The variation of the level of discrimination within the same kind of political regimes........... ....................................................................... 32 2.3.3 Causes of discrimination against minorities in autocracies............ 34 2.4 Discrimination of minorities and the Arab-Muslim countries........ 36 2.4.1 Some particularities of Arab Muslim countries in their treatment of their minorities............... ..................................................................... 37 2.4.2 Standard causes of discrimination in Arab Muslim countries........ 40 a) Islam as a religion........................................................................... 41 a.1) The nature of Islamic