Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) from an Insurgent Group to a Local Authority: Emergence, Development and Social Support Base

Abstract

In 2011, the Middle East entered an era of turmoil. Syria has been the scene for evolution of many NSAGs. This study aims to analyze the factors helped one of the prominent violent organizations, HTS, to become one of the main NSAGs outside the Regime control areas, by applying qualitative methodology using two data sources: primarily, semi-structured field interviews, secondarily, related sources of newspapers/research centers' publications. Findings show that the decisive military factor and ability to build an interest-based relationship with local elites, impose order and security, and provide public services were critical in imposing hegemony and establishing governance.The majority of armed confrontations and acts of violence in our world take place within states, not between them. Since 1945, more than 75% of armed conflicts worldwide have been civil wars involving non-state armed organizations 1 . By early 2011, the Middle East had entered an era dubbed the Arab Spring or Uprisings. As a result, countries in this region have been subjected to violent activities and incidents orchestrated and carried out by non-state armed organizations. These were hostile activities directed at civilians and military objectives. Indeed, these armed groups can establish hierarchical intelligence networks and pose a significant security challenge to the Middle East's national security and intelligence apparatuses and an even more significant threat to the state entity, undermining its monopoly on the use of violence.The years since the outbreak of the Arab Uprisings at the end of 2010 have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the Middle East in the number and form of NSAGs. In one way or another, this increase has been counterbalanced by its increasing relationship to political dynamics throughout this region of the world. As a classification, the category of "non-governmental body" includes a variety of groups, organizations, and movements. This classification includes civil society and the