Asad's legacy : Syria in transition
"For thirty years Hafiz al-Asad was the undisputed ruler of Syria. American presidents and Israeli prime ministers came and went but Asad remained, one of the last of the old generations of Arab leaders. Now his son Bashir is faced with an array of difficult choices in the post-Cold War Middle East. Will he allow greater civil liberties and economic liberalization, or will he permit capitalist reform but with strong, centralized one-party control? Will he make peace with Israel, and if so how quickly and at what price? Will he cement Syria's growing relationship with the United States or return to the antagonisms of the past?" "Eyal Zisser tackles these questions and examines the legacy of the man President Clinton called "the smartest leader in the Middle East as far as I.Q. is concerned." He also explores the peculiar dynamics of the Asad family with its Byzantine power plays and competing factions." "Asad's legacy is the most up-to-date, thorough treatment of Hafiz al-Asad's role in the history and politics of the contemporary Middle East. It sheds new light on the story of Asad's rule over his nation and points the way to the future of Syria and the entire region."--Jacket
History
xxii, 218 pages : maps ; 22 cm
9780814796979, 9781850654452, 9781850654506, 0814796974, 185065445X, 1850654506
45243288
Foreword / Itamar Rabinovich
Introduction: From "The Struggle for Syria" to "The Struggle for the Middle East"
pt. I. Syria under Asad
Regime and State
1. Asad's Regime
Three Orbits: 'Alawi, Syrian and Arab
2. The System of Government in Asad's Syria
pt. II. A New Path
3. The Friendship that Failed
Syria in the Shadow of the Soviet Collapse
4. Start of the New Path
Syria during the Gulf Crisis
pt. III. Syrian Foreign Policy in the 1990s
5. Syria between East and West
6. Syria and Israel
On the Road to Peace
7. Syria in Lebanon
pt. IV. Inside Syria
a Country at a Crossroads
8. The Struggle over Succession
9. State, Society and Economy in the 1990s
Conclusion: Asad's Legacy: Syria in Tradition