of loyalty amongst certain parts of the country. The main minorities in Syria include the Alawites (12 percent), the Greek Orthodox Christians and other Christian sects (9 percent), the Kurds (9 percent), and the Druze (3 percent). The Sunni religious group is considered to be the majority amongst the Syrian population. The ethnic and religious diversity in Syria has caused an unequal distribution of power. The Sunni Muslims dominated politically and ensured that the Alawites were denied any political input. The Alawites – a minority – wanted to have an input in their country, causing them to claim the armed forces and the Ba’ath Party. This created a secular and unstable Syria. The lack of stability in the country originated from the formation of the Ba’ath party in 1963. The Ba’ath party was led by ex-peasant military officers who took power with a radical point of view creating quite a few oppositions such as the old oligarchs, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Nasserists. The Ba’ath Party wanted to become “the most important and ultimately successful of the radical movements that arose in post-independence Syria”, which meant that they were less likely to prevail if they mobilized from below, and more likely to succeed if they launched a “revolution from above”. When the Ba’ath Party gained control of the economy, it also created instability between the government and the opposition. In 1970, when Hafez al-Assad came to power, it was ensured that he would leave behind the radical Ba’athist ideology that the leaders before him had held on to, leading him to opt for a more monarchical presidency. His presidency was the beginning of a façade presidential republic. There were no real oppositions because he made sure to concentrate the power in his hands. Even if the opposition were to happen, Hafez had run a patronage-based community which allowed him to control any form of chaos that were to happen in Syria. The government used coercion to keep Syria stable and under control. There were various coercive tactics that were used such as the Massacre of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1982, and the ‘incommunicado’ detention centers and military prisons where they mistreated and dehumanized the prisoners. Hafez was sure to make an example out of those who opposed him to keep the control within the hands of his government. The various ethnic and religious cleavages were used to maintain control