Book description
Demystifying Syria offers an extraordinary insight into the shifting
relations between the Ba'th party and the armed forces, civil law,
social structure, burgeoning private enterprise, internal political
opposition, the European Union and its relation to Syria. This book
goes beyond the headlines to offer a detailed portrait of the
political, economic, social and diplomatic dynamics that shape this
pivotal and fiercely independent Middle Eastern state.
Contributors include Bassem Haddad, Souhail Belhadj, Baudoin Dupret,
Zouhair Ghazzal, Thomas Pierret, Salwa Ismail, Joshua Landis and Joe
Pace.
'Demonstrates how US intervention in the region weakened the position
of the Syrian opposition … shows Syrian studies in the best possible
light, edited to a high level and recommended to everyone interested
in the complexities - rather than the mysteries - of contemporary
Syria.' Times Higher Education
Supplement
'This compelling book offers the reader much food for thought on a
country that certainly defies any attempt to be encapsulated in
unidirectional and straightforward definitions.' International Spectator
'This book shows Syrian studies in the best possible light, has been
edited to a high level and can be recommended to everyone interested in
the complexities - rather than mysteries - of contemporary Syria.' The
Times Higher Education Fred H. Lawson is Rice Professor of Government
at Mills College, where he teaches international relations and Middle
East politics. He first visited Syria in 1979, and later spent a year
at the University of Aleppo as a Fulbright Lecturer in International
Relations.
