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Identity and fear: A survey study of the Arab East

  • Development Theory
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Abstract

This article explores the concepts of social identity and fear in the Arab East, namely in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and among Palestinians living in these countries. Its theoretical framework is composed of two major conceptions: individuals’ perceptions of their social and political identity-affiliation and inter-intra-group relations. It is asserted that the feeling of fear and antipathy in the Arab East creates or supports confessional individual identity and group affiliation. The findings, which are construed through survey analysis, support the arguments that secterian groups are basic actors in the politics of the Arab East and that all political analysis that negates their influence as identity units is superficial. The survey results discredit the argument that the feeling of belonging to confessional groups is anomalous, anachronistic, and evanescent. On the contrary, the minority identity has never been obliterated in the Arab East, and these minorities carry the potential of asserting a real threat to regime stability and to the political order. These threats, though they seem dormant at times, are very much alive and should not be discounted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon

    Michel G. Nehme (assistant professor)

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  1. Michel G. Nehme
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Michel G. Nehme is an assistant professor at American University of Beirut, Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, PO Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon

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Nehme, M.G. Identity and fear: A survey study of the Arab East. Studies in Comparative International Development 30, 3–23 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687157

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687157

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