In the early months of the Syrian uprising, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad mobilized allies among the Alawites and Christians. Extremist Islamists sought to impose a religious dictatorship on Syria, openly targeting Christians, Shia and other minorities. The war took on an increasingly sectarian character.
Reese Erlich explores how the once-secular Syrian society has been rent by religious hatred, and he looks at the prospects for healing the divide in the future.
Erlich has reported from Syria six times, and since the uprising began, he has interviewed Syrian rebels and civilians in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraqi Kurdistan. Erlich's dispatches from Syria continue his reporting on what has become the most controversial of Arab Spring uprisings.
