Syria's Uprising and the Fracturing of the Levant / Edition 1

by Emile Hokayem

Overview

As an upbeat and peaceful uprising quickly and brutally descended into a zero-sum civil war, Syria has crumbled from a regional player into an arena in which a multitude of local and foreign actors compete. The volatile regional fault lines that run through Syria have ruptured during this conflict, and the course of events in this fragile yet strategically significant country will profoundly shape the future of the Levant.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415717380
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/07/2013
Series:	Adelphi series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Emile Hokayem’s first-hand experience and sober analysis provide up-to-date insight into the myriad opposition groups, the conflicting external interests and the murky calculations of the Assad regime. Tracking the seeds of dissent that laid the groundwork for rebellion, he looks at how Syria’s largely apolitical society mobilised and at the unpredictable dynamics that have been unleashed as the protest movement has radicalised and militarised. In the face of such profound challenges to its four decades of authoritarian rule, Hokayem also assesses the continued resilience of a regime that has escalated beyond the point of return.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 6

List of acronyms 7

Map of Syria's ethnic and sectarian distribution 8

Introduction 9

The regional and international dimensions of Syria's revolution 11

An unpredictable uprising? 13

Syria's complex terrain 17

Chapter 1 The decay of the Syrian state 21

Bashar al-Assad's consolidation of power 21

The challenge of reform and the flawed modernisation of the economy 25

The decay of the state 28

The nature of the regime 30

The centrality of the security forces 33

Chapter 2 The uprising and the regime 39

The political geography of the Syrian uprising 41

The regime's response and resilience 50

Chapter 3 The rise of the opposition 67

The emergence of many oppositions 67

The militarisation of the uprising 81

Revolution and Islamism 93

Chapter 4 The regional struggle over Syria 105

Syria in the regional landscape 105

Regional competition: between Turkey, Iran and the Gulf 110

Iraq: the spectre of sectarian war reappears 128

Vulnerable states: Lebanon and Jordan 132

Israel: the end of a predictable relationship 142

Chapter 5 Syria in the international context 149

Western confusion and ambivalence 150

An incremental response 154

International diplomacy 158

Making sense of Western hesitancy 168

Russia takes a stand 172

Military constraints to intervention 177

The Western debate over assisting the rebellion 182

Conclusion 191

Societal fragmentation 192

Who holds power? 194

The opposition's challenges 199

The regime's survival strategy 201

The diplomatic solution: delusion or only game in town? 205

The troubled regional picture 206

Editorial Reviews

"The book offers a meticulous and highly effective anatomy of the Syrian crisis, serving a comprehensive analysis that both illuminates and steers away from reductionist pitfalls." - Nigel Gould Davies, International Affairs

From the Publisher