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SYRIA Syria: Revolution from Above, by Raymond Hinnebusch. London, UK and New York: Routledge, 2001, xiii + 186 pages. $41.95.
The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar alAsad and Modern Syria, by David W. Lesch. New Haven, CT and London, UK: Yale University Press, 2005, xiii + 288 pages. $30.
Reviewed by Moshe Ma Oz
During the period of the Ba'th regime (1963-present) and particularly under the leadership of Hafiz al-Asad (1970-2000), Syria underwent a remarkable transformation, domestically and regionally. From a weak and shaky polity dominated by a small conservative elite of big landowners and merchants, it became a strong and stable state, led by a new elite of military officers (mostly Alawis) and Ba'thist politicians (mostly Sunni Muslims). They represented the new middle class and lower classes of professionals, workers, and peasants. Simultaneously, after being an object of political intervention and the irredentist tendencies of its Arab neighbors, as well as of an alleged Israeli threat, Syria was transformed under Hafiz al-Asad into a regional middle power. It competed with Ba'thist Iraq over regional influence; established a strategic alliance with revolutionary Iran; exercised de facto control over Lebanon (until 2005); and challenged Israel's military superiority (almost reaching a peace agreement with the Jewish state in 2000).
But these significant gains were realized at a high price, paid by Syrian society and the economy, and the notably serious suppression of human and political rights through harsh legal and military measures including arrests, torture, and mass killings, in particular the 1982 Kama massacre that claimed the lives of some 20,000 men, women, and children.
In his comprehensive and well-written study, Raymond Hinnebusch examines these developments and other issues in a scholarly, critical, and even-handed manner. Drawing upon most studies on modern Syria, including his previous works, the author depicts the Ba'th regime as a "revolution from above" that "started as little more than a handful of officers and intellectuals entrenched at strategic levels of military and bureaucratic power" (p. 47).
Initially, this regime used socialist transformation and party organization to mobilize popular support, and repress the urban oligarchy and traditional-conservative middle classes. The rural population, consequently, became the major beneficiary of the new Ba'th regime, mainly through agrarian reforms and expanded education. Young peasants also emerged...