SECTARIAN GROUPS AS SUB-STATE FOREIGN POLICY ACTORS? THE CASE STUDY OF LEBANON A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MURAT TINAS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AREA STUDIES JULY 2016 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Science Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Küçükkaya Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık (METU, IR) Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Küçükkaya (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serdar Palabıyık (TOBB-ETU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kürşad Turan (GAZİ, IR) Assist. Prof. Dr. Derya Göçer Akder (METU, ARS) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Murat Tınas Signature : iii ABSTRACT SECTARIAN GROUPS AS SUB-STATE FOREIGN POLICY ACTORS? THE CASE STUDY OF LEBANON Tınas, Murat Ph.D., Department of Area Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Küçükkaya July 2016, 358 pages Previous studies on foreign policy have documented the proliferation of actors in addition to those focusing on the role of identities in shaping preferences and behavior of actors. This study aspires to address a void in the literature; the role of sectarian identities in foreign policy making by bringing sectarian groups into foreign policy studies as sub-state actors. In doing so, the dissertation adopts constructivist approach as a theoretical framework and assesses its merits for exploring the nexus of identity and the construction of interest in foreign policy and its implications on foreign policy behavior. The thesis initially explores the evolution of foreign policy studies by giving specific emphasis on the emergence of multiple actors and the concept of identity iv in the literature. Then, it focuses on the analysis of Lebanese history and two case studies –Israel-Hezbollah War and Syrian civil war- through a close scrutiny of the emergence and the consolidation of foreign policy orientations, preferences and behavior of Maronite, Sunni, Shia and Druze communities in Lebanon. As a qualitative work, the dissertation draws its sources from both primary and secondary sources in addition to a field work in Lebanon. Through case studies together with a historical analysis of Lebanon based on a constructivist insight, this thesis responds to the necessity of further questioning the unitary actor model, the role of sectarian identity in interest-building processes and tries to present behavioral patterns of sub-state sectarian actors in foreign policy making. Keywords: Sectarian groups, foreign policy actors, foreign policy, Lebanon. v ÖZ DEVLET-ALTI DIŞ POLİTİKA AKTÖRÜ OLARAK MEZHEP GRUPLARI? LÜBNAN VAKA ANALİZİ Tınas, Murat Doktora, Bölge Çalışmaları Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür Küçükkaya Temmuz 2016, 358 sayfa Dış politika üzerine yapılan çalışmalar, farklı analiz düzeylerinde dış politika aktörlerinin çeşitliliği ile aktörlerin tercihleri ve davranışlarında kimliğin önemini ortaya koymuşlardır. Hâlihazırda bu çalışma, mezhep gruplarını dış politika çalışmalarına devlet-altı aktör olarak konu ederek literatürde göz ardı edilen dış politika yapım süreçlerinde mezhebi kimliğin rolünü tahlil etmeye taliptir. Kavramsal çerçevesini konstrüktivist (yapısalcı) tasavvur üzerine kuran çalışma, kimlik ile dış politikada çıkar inşası ilişkisi ve bu ilişkinin dış politika davranışlarına etkisini incelemektedir. Mezhebi grupların devlet-altı dış politika aktörü olarak analiz edilip edilemeyeceğini sorgulayabilmek amacıyla bu tezde ilk olarak dış politika vi çalışmalarının evrimi tahlil edilmiştir. Bu analizde çeşitli aktörlerin ortaya çıkışı ve kimliğin çıkar inşa sürecinde etkisi üzerinde durulmuştur. Teorik tartışmanın sonrasında ise Lübnan tarihi ile iki ayrı vaka –İsrail-Hizbullah Savaşı ve Suriye İç Savaşı- çalışmasında özellikle Maruni, Sünni, Şii ve Dürzi grupların dış politika cihetlerinin, tercihlerinin ve davranışlarının derinlemesine analizi yer almaktadır. Nitel bir araştırma olan çalışmaya, birincil ve ikincil kaynakların yanı sıra Lübnan’da gerçekleştirilen saha çalışması kaynaklık etmektedir. Sonuç olarak bu tez literatürdeki üniter devlet savının daha fazla sorgulanması çabasıyla çıkar inşa süreçlerinde kimliğin rolü ile devlet-altı dış politika aktörü olarak mezhebi grupların dış politika davranış modellerine ilişkin sonuçlara ulaşmayı hedeflemiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Mezhebi gruplar, dış politika aktörleri, dış politika, Lübnan. vii DEDICATION To my beloved family viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of the following people to whom I owe earnest gratitude. First, I would like to thank to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür for her academic and personal support. No proper words can express my gratefulness for the encouragement that Dr. Tür has provided. I would also like to express my deepest thanks to the members of the dissertation committee; Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık and Assoc.Prof. Dr. Serdar Palabıyık for their valuable contribution to this study from the beginning; and Assoc.Prof. Dr. Kürşat Turan and Assist.Prof. Dr. Derya Göçer Akder for their praise as well as constructive comments to the manuscript. I am also grateful for the intellectual support of Assoc.Prof. Dr. Bassel Salloukh, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Noureddin, Makram Rabah and Prof. Dr. Fatih Tayfur. Additionally, I would like to express my heart-felt thanks to all those who gave of their time to be interviewed for this research, both on and off the record, some of them over several sessions, including Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt, Former Speaker of UNIFIL Timur Göksel and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Ambassador Adnan Mansour I am also in great debt to Ambassador Dr. İsmail Hakkı Musa for enlightening me through sharing his wisdom and experience in approaching to world affairs that was simply not available in books alone and for his invaluable support for my academic career. My appreciation and thanks also go to ORSAM Researcher Oytun Orhan and Chairman of Lebanese Turkish Association Zaher Sultan for their extraordinary ix support for my field research. I also thank to Cengiz Eroğlu, Director of Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Beirut, for his support to solve my daily problems in Beirut and to facilitate the interviews. Additionally, special thanks go to those who made my life in Lebanon more enjoyable and beneficial including Assoc.Prof. Dr. Zişan Furat, Selim Öztürk, Marwan Khalil and Maher Khaled. I would like to extend my heart-felt thanks to my beloved friends whose presence and good wishes helped me endure the challenges of the dissertation. In specific, I am immensely grateful to Onur Tanay and Hatice Çelik for their academic support and proofread of the final version. I would also like to express my gratefulness to The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for its financial support for my PhD study through BİDEB 2211-A and BİDEB 2214-A. Especially the grant for my field research in Lebanon contributed extensively to this study through a series of interviews with the sectarian leaders and academicians and a research on primary sources in achieves in Lebanon. Last but not least, I wish to express my heart-felt thanks to my family; especially my father, my mother, my aunts, my sister and her family. It was their labor as much as mine which has rendered this study possible. Their never-ending love and support in every phase of my life have been a compass to guide me. Above all gratitude, I would like to especially thank my wife, Emine Tınas, for her gracious patience, support and the necessary push to complete the thesis as well as her academic assistance. This long and painstaking process has taught me once again how blessed I am with her precious presence and how great it is to have such a wonderful spouse. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ........................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION ..................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... xi NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION ....................................................................... xix LIST OF FIGURES AND MAPS ......................................................................... xx CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1. DEFINING SECTARIANISM AND SECTARIAN ACTORS ..................