The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is estimating that approximately a thousand people have been killed in major violence in Syria’s coastal region. The violence began after an attack on government forces left more than a dozen soldiers dead late last week. Since then, members of Syria’s Alawiite community have been attacked and killed in the ongoing violence. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Joshua Landis, a professor of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, about the background to the violence.