This article surveys Hezbollah’s sectarian mobilization to justify its early engagement in Syria’s civil war for what was an intervention in a geopolitical confrontation to implement its agenda in coordination with its regional allies. Generally speaking, sectarian relations can be driven from both above as well as below. The article first argues that Hezbollah is a sectarian party whose timing of emergence paralleled with the rise of the Shia in Lebanon and the adjoining region. It contends that Hezbollah instrumentalized its sectarian identity and adopted a sectarian mobilization policy ahead of its engagement in Syria’s conflict. However, as its fighters were expanding across the country, Hezbollah’s sectarian discourse altered to a more politics-centric discourse. Therefore, this article concluded that the falsely framed sectarian conflict in Syria is sect-coded, Hezbollah adopted a top-down politicization of sectarian identity, and its primary aim was to prevent the regime’s collapse, which would have tilted the regional balance of power in favor of its rivals rather than seeking religious truths on Syria’s soil.

本文对真主党的宗派动员进行了调查，以证明其早日参与叙利亚内战的理由是干预地缘政治对抗，以实施其与地区盟友协调的议程。一般而言，宗派关系可以从上方和下方驱动。文章首先指出，真主党是一个宗派政党，其出现的时间与黎巴嫩和其邻国什叶派的崛起相平行。它辩称，真主党在参与叙利亚冲突之前发挥了其宗派身份的作用，并采取了宗派动员政策。但是，随着战斗机在全国范围内的扩张，真主党的宗派话语变成了一种以政治为中心的话语。所以，