Australian National University THESES SIS/LIBRARY TELEPHONE: +61 2 6125 4631 R.G. MENZIES LIBRARY BUILDING NO:2 FACSIMILE: +61 2 6125 4063 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY EMAIL: [email protected] CANBERRA ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA USE OF THESES This copy is supplied for purposes of private study and research only. Passages from the thesis may not be copied or closely paraphrased without the written consent of the author. THE LEBANESE CONFLICT A Sociological Study of its Causes and Resolution Latif Abul-Husn A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Australian National University November 1992 Declaration Except where otherwise indicated this thesis is my own work November 1992 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been written without the assistance and support of a number of people. My main debt is to my supervisors, Dr. Lawrence Saha and Dr. Amin Saikal for the time they have generously given me and the guidance and counselling they persistently provided. I would like to express my thanks to my adviser, Dr. Robert Springborg for his many pertinent comments and helpful suggestions. I am thankful also to Dr. William Harris for his editorial help and valuable comments. My warm thanks to Mrs. Susan DeMarco for undertaking the difficult task of typing the first draft of this manuscript despite the illegibility of my handwriting. I am thankful also to Ms Betty Pilgrim who continued, cheerfully, to type and retype and print this thesis. None of those mentioned here are responsible for errors or deficiencies of my work. I would like to thank in particular my wife Samira and two daughters, Roula and Ranya, for their tolerance, encouragement and support during the painful process of producing this thesis. I wish to dedicate this thesis to the memory of my parents and to my brothers whose sacrifices made it possible for me to earn an education. ABSTRACT This thesis argues that the existing conflictual tendencies in the Lebanese social structure have generated long term and continued cleavages and disharmony in Lebanese society and polity. Many interpretations have been offered to explain this conflict, but previous research on its genesis and outcome has focused mainly on variables whose main focus lie outside the social structure. This study deliberately avoids an analysis of external factors. It, rather, concentrates on the role played by domestic factors in the aetiology, dynamism and resolution of the Lebanese conflict. It is assumed that the external factors have played a contributory rather than a causal role in the conflict. The first premise of the theoretical scheme is that the basic causes of the conflict in Lebanon are inherent in its social structure, which failed to generate a change within itself. The objective is to explore the dynamics, in a historical perspective, of this social structure in order to determine the conflictual tendencies inherent in it. The second premise is that the persistence of conflictual tendencies in the social structure tends to keep the socio-political order perpetually unstable. As a corollary to the first premise it is argued that conflictual tendencies are inevitable in pluralist societies. Some systems have evolved successful adaptive mechanisms and strategies to contain destructive responses, but the Lebanese system did not. It is further argued that the endemic nature of conflictual tendencies, compounded with the failure or even flaws of the adjustment mechanisms are sufficient to initiate and maintain conflict. The premises suggested here are analyzed in relation to conflict theory as envisaged by Marx, Dahrendorf, Coser and Ibn Khaldun. Marx's vision of the economic determinacy of the conflict process, and the supremacy of the economic factor in the generation of conflict had been contested by Dahrendorf’s vision of political determinism and the primacy of the authority structure in the genesis of conflict. The argument developed in this thesis is that Marx's and Dahrendorf's models need to be revised in order to capture the empirical situation in Lebanon. The validity of the revised model is assumed in terms of its ability to explain the formation and behaviour of the conflict groups. For this purpose Ibn Khaldun's concept of asabiya is offered to supplement Dahrendorf's concept of Authority. On the basis of a causal analysis of the conflict in Lebanon it was concluded that Marx's doctrine of economic determinism must be rejected in favour of Dahrendorf's concept of 'authority' and by Ibn Khaldun's vision of asabiya and its role in the aetiology, growth and demise of power groups. In considering the resolution of conflict, this study applies a theoretical strategy developed from conflict management to deeply divided societies such as Lebanon. It explains the manner in which Lebanon managed its communal conflict in three distinct settings: The 1860 civil war, the post independence era (1943-1975), and the 1975 conflict. Each of the three settings investigated exhibited similar conflict management patterns; the first setting established the basis for power sharing, involving authority differentiation and marked communal interdependence. The second setting witnessed a period of relative and apparent stability due to the implementation of the power-sharing principle within a consociational context. The third setting manifested analogous conflict patterns and corresponding conflict resolution strategies in spite of the time lapse involved. Power-sharing and communal interdependence remain a viable option for the resolution of the existing conflict. The three settings provide the study with an empirical base to suggest that pluralist societies are not condemned to continuing conflict as long as they apply conflict resolution strategies based on flexible, but solid, consociational principles. On the other hand such societies cannot free themselves totally from conflict, basically because conflict is a natural phenomenon in human society. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of Tables viii Introduction I Causes 1 II Theoretical Perspectives 2 III The Basic Issues 3 IV The Conflict Parties 5 V Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution 9 Chapter 1: Communal Conflict: A Conceptual Framework I Introduction 14 II Methodological Approach 15 III Structural-Functional or Conflict Theory ? 15 IV Lebanese Social Structure and Conflict Theory 16 V Major Trends in Conflict Theory 19 1 Classical and Contemporary Theorists 19 a Karl Marx 19 b Talcott Parsons 21 c Ralf Dahrendorf 23 d Lewis Coser 27 2 Ibn Khaldun 31 VI Convergence of the Frameworks 37 VII Conclusion 38 Chapter 2: Authority and Asabiya: Two Fundamental Concepts for the Analysis of the Lebanese Conflict I Introduction 45 II Concept of Authority and the Rise of Conflict Groups 45 III The Concept of Asabiya and its Implications for the Emergence of Conflict Groups 49 1 Asabiya as an Agnatic Concept 51 2 Asabiya as a Classificatory Concept 52 3 Asabiya as an Organisational Concept 52 4 Asabiya as a Power Concept 53 5 Asabiya as an Ecological Concept 53 IV Asabiya and the Lebanese Social Structure 54 1 Segmentation Along Sectarian Lines 55 2 Segmentation Along Genealogical Lines 57 3 Segmentation Along Geographical Lines 57 4 Segmentation Along Political Lines 58 V Limitations to the Concept of Asabiya 59 VI Application of Ibn Khaldun’s Concept of Asabiya to the Lebanese Conflict Groups 60 V VII Differential Distribution of Power and Authority Among the Main Sectarian Communities 62 A The Maronites' Power 63 1 The Chehabi Period 64 2 The Administrative Council Period 65 3 The Mandate Period 67 B The Druzes' Power 69 1 The Imarah Period 70 2 The Ma'n Period 72 3 The Chehabi Period 74 C Other Sects and Communities 78 a The Sunnites 78 b The Shiites 79 VIII The National Pact: A power-Sharing Arrangement 80 Chapter 3 Cleavages in the Lebanese Social and Political Structure I Introduction 89 II Historical Development of the Communal Structure 89 A The Maronites 92 B The Druzes 94 C The Shiites and the Sunnis 97 1 The Shiites 99 2 The Sunnites 101 r/ D Other Communities 105 1 The Greek Orthodox Community 106 2 The Palestinian Community 107 III Political Institutions 109 IV Conclusion 112 Chapter 4 Communal Relations and the Generation of Conflict I Introduction 118 II Basic Causes of the Conflict 118 A Internal Factors 119 1 Structural Disposition 119 a Economic Asymmetry 120 b Educational Imbalance 121 c Political Disparity 122 2 Provocative Disposition 125 3 Catalytic Disposition 126 B External Factors 126 1 The Arab-lsraeli Conflict 126 2 The Palestinian Problem 128 3 The Israeli Incursions and Invasions 129 4 Inter-Arab Discord 130 C The Syrian Factor 133 III Conclusion 139 Chapter 5: Conflict Regulatory Practices Before the War: The National Pact I Introduction 143 II Intractability of Conflict 143 vi III Diverse Approaches to Conflict Regulation 144 A Consociational Democracy Theory 146 B Other Conflict Regulation Devices 148 IV Conflict Regulation in Lebanon 152 A The 1943 National Pact 152 1 The Pact as a Consociational Device for Achieving a Just Communality 152 2 The Pact as a Nation-Building Mechanism 154 3 The Pact as a Mechanism for Integration 156 4 Disintegrative Elements in the Pact 157 5 Failure of the Integrative Mechanism in the Pact 159 6 Success of the Consociational Mechanism in the Pact 159 B The Electoral Law 160 C Developmental Policies 162 D An Overall Assessment of the National Pact as a Consociational Device and a Conflict Management Mechanism 163 V Consociationalism