The Druze Minority in the Middle East: Religion, Community Structure, and Policy in Minority–State Relations in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan

Abstract

This paper examines the Druze minority across Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, linking their eleventh-century theological origins (tawḥīd, reason/knowledge, metempsychosis) to kinship-centered institutions that sustain resilience and adaptation. Using multiculturalism and legal pluralism as analytic lenses, it shows how layered identities and overlapping religious–state jurisdictions generate both opportunity and vulnerability. Comparative analysis maps community “types,” governance logics (consociational, security-centered, local substitution), and region-wide trends in education, mobility, and fertility that reshape cohesion and incorporation. Policy recommendations emphasize voice and structured consultation, intercultural education, targeted educational–economic empowerment, and acknowledgment of historical grievances to build trust and parity. The study notes limits of secondary data and urges micro-institutional and longitudinal research to refine durable, rights-consistent minority–state frameworks for the Druze in the Levant.