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Commanding Syria

Author: Eyal Zisser

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007-04-25

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0857711512

When Basher al-Asad became President of Syria in June 2000, he had a tough act to follow. A quiet, unassuming opthalmologist, trained in Britain, young Asad was successor to his dynamic, wily father Hafiz, who had consolidated power in his ethnically diverse and politically restive state through personal charisma, brute force and political balancing acts. Now, some years after Basher's succession and with mounting international pressure for political and economical reform, his handling of the issues facing Syria raises serious questions for the future stability of the Middle East. This is the first major work on Basher al-Asad. It assesses the durability of Hafiz's legacy, including the influence of the old power-brokers, the effectiveness of Basher's attempts to move away from his father's shadow, and prospects for reform. Above all, it evaluates Basher's continuing hold on power following Syria's humiliating retreat from Lebanon in Spring 2005.

Commanding Syria

Author: Eyal Ziser

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780755609581

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"When Basher al-Asad became President of Syria in June 2000, he had a tough act to follow. A quiet, unassuming opthalmologist, trained in Britain, young Asad was successor to his dynamic, wily father Hafiz, who had consolidated power in his ethnically diverse and politically restive state through personal charisma, brute force and political balancing acts. Now, some years after Basher's succession and with mounting international pressure for political and economical reform, his handling of the issues facing Syria raises serious questions for the future stability of the Middle East. This is the first major work on Basher al-Asad. It assesses the durability of Hafiz's legacy, including the influence of the old power-brokers, the effectiveness of Basher's attempts to move away from his father's shadow, and prospects for reform. Above all, it evaluates Basher's continuing hold on power following Syria's humiliating retreat from Lebanon in Spring 2005."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Assad or We Burn the Country

Author: Sam Dagher

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2019-05-28

Total Pages: 592

ISBN-13: 031655670X

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From a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist specializing in the Middle East, this groundbreaking account of the Syrian Civil War reveals the never-before-published true story of a 21st-century humanitarian disaster. In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising -- an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis. Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged in Bashar's bloody quest to preserve his father's inheritance. By drawing on his own reporting experience in Damascus and exclusive interviews with Tlass, Dagher takes readers within palace walls to reveal the family behind the destruction of a country and the chaos of an entire region. Dagher shows how one of the world's most vicious police states came to be and explains how a regional conflict extended globally, engulfing the Middle East and pitting the United States and Russia against one another. Timely, propulsive, and expertly reported, Assad or We Burn the Country is the definitive account of this global crisis, going far beyond the news story that has dominated headlines for years.

Inside Israel's Northern Command

Author: Dani Asher

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2016-03-18

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 0813167655

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On October 6, 1973, Israel's Northern Command was surprised by the thunder of cannon fire and the sight of dense, black smoke. A Syrian force of 1,400 tanks supported by artillery and air power had attacked from the north while the Egyptian military invaded the Sinai Peninsula in the south. Syria sought to avenge its devastating loss of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War -- a conflict that not only resulted in territorial gain for Israel but also cemented the nation's reputation as the region's preeminent military power. Although Israel ultimately prevailed, the Yom Kippur War (or Ramadan War, as it is known in Arab countries) shattered the illusion of Israel's invincibility. In Syrians at the Border , Israel's foremost scholar of the war, Dani Asher, and an eminent group of experts provide the definitive history of this key conflict. The contributors -- Major General Yitzhak Hofi, the Northern commander in chief; Major General Uri Simchoni, head of Command Operations; Brigadier General Avraham Bar David, head of Artillery; and Colonel Hagai Mann, the command's intelligence officer -- all held key positions during the fighting. Together, they offer fresh insight into the prewar debate that raged between the Israeli Northern Command and intelligence officers who believed that Syria would not instigate conflict. This seminal study also examines the pivotal battles that changed the course of the war, as well as the disastrous effects of a flawed postwar evaluation that adversely affected the careers of several high-ranking intelligence officials and the course of defense strategic planning thereafter. The contributors' incisive analyses contribute significantly to our understanding of this troubled region.

Syria

Author: Alan George

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 2003-04

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781842772133

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Based on the testimony of key players, "Syria: Neither Bread nor Freedom" recounts the drama of the "Damascus Spring" and its repression, and reveals what happens in a state like Syria to the institutions that occupy the political space between government and governed. From political parties to parliament; from the media to the judicial system and universities, the official veil of rhetoric and propaganda is lifted to reveal a system so demoralized and corrupted that power is wielded for no purpose but power itself; a system which, as Bashar al-Assad himself is discovering, is virtually incapable of reform.

No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria

Author: Rania Abouzeid

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2018-03-13

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0393609502

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“Rania Abouzeid has produced a work of stunning reportage from the very heart of the conflict, daring to go to the most dangerous places in order to get the story.” —Dexter Filkins, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Forever War Award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid dissects the tangle of ideologies and allegiances that make up the Syrian conflict through the dramatic stories of four young people seeking safety and freedom in a shattered country. Hailed by critics, No Turning Back masterfully “[weaves] together the lives of protestors, victims, and remorseless killers at the center of this century’s most appalling human tragedy” (Robert F. Worth). Based on more than five years of fearless, clandestine reporting, No Turning Back brings readers deep inside Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, to covert meetings where foreign states and organizations manipulated the rebels, and to the highest levels of Islamic militancy and the formation of the Islamic State. An utterly engrossing human drama full of vivid, indelible characters, No Turning Back shows how hope can flourish even amid one of the twenty-first century’s greatest humanitarian disasters. Winner of the Overseas Press Club of America's Cornelius Ryan Award for the best non-fiction book on international affairs and a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize.

The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game

Author: Bente Scheller

Publisher: Hurst Publishers

Published: 2013-10-24

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1849042861

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Syrian foreign policy, always opaque, has become an even greater puzzle during the Syrian revolt. Irrespective of the regime’s international isolation in the wake of its violent response to domestic protest, it has paid lip-service to international peace plans while unperturbedly crushing the rebellion. The rare televised appearances of President Assad have shown a leader detached from reality. Has he—in his own words—‘gone crazy’? In this book long-time Syria analyst and former diplomat Bente Scheller contends that Bashar Assad’s deadly waiting game is following its own logic: whatever difficulties the Syrian regime has faced, its previous experience has been that it can simply sit out the current crisis. The difference this time is that Syria faces a double crisis—internal and external. While Hafez Assad, renowned as an astute politician, adapted to new challenges, his son, Bashar, seems to have no alternative plan of action. Scheller’s timely book analyses Syrian foreign policy after the global upheavals of 1989, which was at the time a glorious new beginning for the regime. She shows how Bashar Assad, by ignoring change both inside Syria and in the region, has sacrificed his father’s focus on national security in favour of a policy of regime survival and offers a candid analysis of the successes and shortcomings of Syrian foreign policy in recent years.

Historical Dictionary of the Syrian Uprising and Civil War

Author: Asaad Alsaleh

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-05-21

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 153812078X

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Historical Dictionary of the Syrian Uprising and Civil War introduces readers to the events and main players that shaped the conflict in Syria since 15 March 2011, as the country entered a new era in its modern history. The “Syrian Revolution,” was part of the Arab Spring that was launched in Tunisia, Egypt, and other countries in the Middle East in late 2010. The Syrian situation turned into a winter, which merits such an all-encompassing book that reveals the complex dynamics of the Syrian civil war. Many of the key players, places, and unfolding events were making headlines for a short period before vanishing from memory, but this book records their emergence and influence. The book traces the political opposition, initially in the form of street-level unrest, targeting the rule of the al-Asad family that ruled for over five decades. The book provides a picture of the fighting groups and their varying agendas, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups. It depicts a picture of a country whose civil war caused one of the biggest crises in the 21st century. It contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 200 cross-referenced entries on the major events, places, and actors in the Syrian war. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Syrian uprising.

Syria: From National Independence to Proxy War

Author: Linda Matar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-10-09

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 3319984586

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This edited collection aims to analytically reconceptualise the Syrian crisis by examining how and why the country has moved from a stable to a war-torn society. It is written by scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, all of whom make no attempt to speculate on the future trajectory of the conflict, but aim instead to examine the historical background that has laid the objective conditions for Syria’s descent to its current situation. Their work represents an attempt to dissect the multi-layered foundation of the Syrian conflict and to make understanding its complex inner workings accessible to a broader readership. The book is divided into four parts, each of which elaborates on the origins and dynamics of today’s crisis from the perspective of a different discipline. When put together, the four parts provide a holistic picture of Syria’s developmental trajectory from the early twentieth century through to the present day. Themes addressed include Syria’s postcolonial development efforts, its leap into socialism and then into neoliberalism in the late twentieth century, its politics within the resistance front, and finally its food and health security concerns.

The Early Muslim Conquest of Syria

Author:

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-23

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 100069058X

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This book narrates the battles, conquests and diplomatic activities of the early Muslim fighters in Syria and Iraq vis-à-vis their Byzantine and Sasansian counterparts. It is the first English translation of one of the earliest Arabic sources on the early Muslim expansion entitled Futūḥ al-Shām (The Conquests of Syria). The translation is based on the Arabic original composed by a Muslim author, Muḥammad al-Azdī, who died in the late 8th or early 9th century C.E. A scientific introduction to al-Azdīʼs work is also included, covering the life of the author, the textual tradition of the work as well as a short summary of the textʼs train of thought. The source narrates the major historical events during the early Muslim conquests in a region that covers today’s Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Iraq in the 7th century C.E. Among these events are the major battles against the Byzantines, such as the Battles of Ajnādayn and al-Yarmūk, the conquests of important cities, including Damascus, Jerusalem and Caesarea, and the diplomatic initiatives between the Byzantines and the early Muslims. The narrative abounds with history and Islamic theological content. As the first translation into a European language, this volume will be of interest to a wide range of readership, including (Muslim and Christian) theologians, historians, Islamicists, Byzantinists, Syrologists and (Arabic) linguists.