ABSTRACT
Two years following the Syrian uprising, the civil war turned into a regional proxy war, principally between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but with important roles played by Qatar, Turkey and Iraq. This paper argues that tribal identity was (and is still) used by the Syrian regime, the opposition, the Kurds, the Islamists and international powers (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, USA, Russia, etc.) to mobilize and direct the armed activities of tribesmen in line with their interests in their battle over Syria. This, in turn, has resulted in the fragmentation of the tribes and their Sheikhs into competing clans that were mainly instrumentalised by outsiders during the Syrian conflict.
