The place of Druzes in Middle East politics in the context of alliance theories

The purpose of this work is to discuss Druze's place in the Middle East politics within the framework of alliance formation. In the first part of the study, origins of alliance formation was touched upon, realism and neorealism was analyzed and subsequently alliance formation was discussed within the framework of Druze's alliance preferences. The alliance formation is mostly exemplified with independent states thus, study of alliance formation of Druzes, a sect without an independent state, contributes to the theory. The alliance preferences of Druzes was observed to be in accordance with the subtopics of the theory such as balance of power, balance of threat and bandwagoning. The origins of Druzes was mentioned since Druzes remain as a lesser-known sect in the Middle East. In this context, Shi'ism, Ismailism and Fatimid dynasty were discussed. Furthermore, influences of the geography where the Druzes live and the influences on their politics from their ethnic origins were discussed. Druze's status in Lebanon, Syria and Israel, where large Druze populations live, were separately analyzed. Druze communities' political behavior in the aformentioned countries was discussed in the context of alliance formation theory. Besides, whether or not the Druze miniorities in all three countries act in coherence was studied. This research is an original work in terms of both discussion of alliance formation of a non-independent society and consideration of lesser known Druzes. In the light of the mentioned data, this study displays that Druzes play an important role of in the dynamic structure of Middle East politics.