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Alawite Homeland in Syria a Political Fantasy
(National-Abu Dhabi) Faisal Al Yafai - An Alawite homeland in the mountains is a political fantasy. If the Assads did retreat to the coastal mountains, it would be a short-lived stand. Although the command of the Syrian army is disproportionately Alawite, the rank and file is not. Alawites make up no more than 10% of the military, concentrated in the Republican Guards. Syria analyst Prof. Joshua Landis notes that there is no infrastructure to support a state on the coast: "no international airport, no electric power plants, no industry." An Alawite "state" would swiftly find itself unable to pay its soldiers.