The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society Under Asad and the Ba'th Party

by Nikolaos Van Dam

Overview

In the midst of turmoil in the Middle East, and in the face of protests and demonstrations from Homs to Damascus and other places all over Syria, the Ba'th Party and Bashar al-Asad are truly caught up in a struggle to hold onto power in Syria. In this important book, Nikolaos van Dam explores and explains how the Asad dynasty has come to rule Syria for about half a century and keep the complex patchwork of minorities, factions and opponents securely under control for such an unprecedented long period. Through an in-depth examination of the role of sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties, van Dam traces developments within the Ba'th party and the military and civilian power elite from the 1963 Ba'thist takeover up to the present day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848857605
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/15/2011
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Nikolaos van Dam is a specialist on Syria and has served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq.

Table of Contents

Preface * Introduction
• The rise of minorities in the Syrian armed forces and in the Ba'th Party
• Sectarian polarisation in the Syrian armed forces between Sunnis and religious minorities
• The purge of Druze officers in the Syrian armed forces
• The struggle for power within the Alawi community
• Sectarian and regional factionalism in the Syrian political elite: a statistical analysis
• Sectarian provocation and confrontation
• Sectarian showdown: eradication of the Muslim Brotherhood
• The power elite under Hafiz al-Asad
• Conclusions
• Syrian Ba'thist memoirs

Editorial Reviews

"[A] monumental work on Syrian power politics." – Robert Fisk, The Independent
 
"An excellent book." — Patrick Seale
 
"An admirable study... invaluable for anyone with a serious interest in Middle Eastern politics." —
Peter Mansfield
 
"The most informative explanation of the effects of sectarianism and regionalism on Syrian politics." — Philip S. Khoury, MERIP Reports
 
"[an] excellent study of the sectarian bases of Syrian politics." — Foreign Affairs
 
"Only a handful of important books have been written on modern Syria; and Nikolaos van Dam's The Struggle for Power in Syria is one of them." — Joshua Landis, International Journal of Middle East Studies

From the Publisher