Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East

It is on my list to read. But it looks good and Patrick knows his subject

brilliant fascinating study of the man who put syria in the forefront of middle east politics

It's impossible to understand Syria without knowing its history, culture or geography. Patrick Seale provides comprehensive coverage of all three. Asad, who ruled Syria between 1971 and 2000, was born in Qardaha in the mountainous region of North West Syria, close to the border with Turkey. Historically, the area has been variously known as Canaan, Phoenicia and the Levant. Its population were overwhelmingly Alawis, a Shia Islam sect but a minority in Syria as a whole. Historically they were known as the Nusayriya or Ansariya people but were designated Alawis during the French Mandate after the First World War. The people were poor and illiterate a situation Asad's Turkish grandfather actively sought to change, sending Asad to Latakia to be educated.Syrian children were taught to hate the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration the following year as carving up "natural" Syria. The French took control of Northern Syria which became the Republics of Lebanon and Syria, while the British adminstered Palestine, Jordan and Mesopotamia. Although the French Mandate was supposed to be a form of guardianship of young nations, the French ousted Faisal as King of Syria and established a colonial regime, while Britain supported Faisal who became King of Iraq. The French reduced the size of Syria by surrendering large areas to Turkey. They also awarded privileges to the traditionally oppressed Alawis and encouraged separatism. However, they did not address the division and conflict between rich and poor.In the mid-forties there were three ideological movements in Syria - Communist, Ba'thist and Syrian Nationalist, none of which were happy with the Islamic aims of the Muslim Brotherhood. At the age of 16 Asad joined the Ba'thist Party. Ba'thism was prone to factionalism with Zaki al-Arsuzi forming the Arab Ba'th Party in 1940 and Michel Aflaq the Arab Ihya Movement the same year. Asad supported Arsuzi's version of history which claimed Islam had served the interests of the Arab nobility. It was Aflaq who expanded Ba'thist political theory of raising Arab consciousness of their heritage and their unity which he considered were represented by the Ba'thist Party serving as the vanguard of progressive ideas. The main weakness of Ba'thist philosophy was its belief that an authoritarian regime was essential in governing. This meant that elections were superfluous. The way into government was to join the Ba'thist Party.The French left Syria in 1946. Civilian politics were chaotic and in 1949 there were three military coups which, among other things, raised the status of the military. Asad and other country boys signed up and stayed while children of the mercantile and landowning classes did their military service but moved on. By "scorning the army as a profession, they allowed it to be captured by their class enemies who then went on to capture the state itself." This occurred as the role of absentee owners reaping the rewards earned by the efforts of the peasantry were increasingly questioned. Furthermore, political conflict emerged between the Ba'th Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). Whereas the former thought of the Ba'th homeland as the whole Arab world, the SSNP thought in terms of the nation of Greater Syria. Following the staged killing of a leading Ba'th army officer, the Ba'th Party joined with the communists to eliminate the SSNP in a series of show trials.The collapse of Western influence following the 1956 Suez crisis produced an unexpected political union between Syria and Egypt as the United Arab Republic (UAR). From the Ba'th point of view the union was necessary to ward off communist influence which had imcreased when the Soviet Union delivered arms and economic aid to the Syrian government. The Union proved to be fractious as Nasser exerted control over Syrian affairs demanding the army stay out of politics and political parties be abolished. Ba'thists became disillusioned with the UAR and Asad joined a conspiracy to end the Union. The overthrow of the isolationist Qasim regime in Iraq, which had utilised communist allies to suppress the Ba'th Party, provided an impetus for a coup in Syria to get rid of Nasserist elements in government. A coup in 1963 enabled the Ba'ath Party to take power but three years later Alawi officers removed the old Ba'th Party and replaced it with a Syrian version based on the teachings of al-Arsuzi. In 1970 Asad took control and established a "Corrective Movement" declaring Syria a secular socialist state with Islam as its religion.The Alawis are a minority sect in Syria but control all the main levers of political and military power. Other religious minorities support them because of the history of Sunni oppression. Syria tried and failed to destroy Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973, losing the strategic Golan Heights in the process. At home Asad's regime imposed censorship and applied terror tactics against dissidents. The Syrians became involved in the Lebanese civil war, with its intelligence services assassinating prominent opponents. In Syria itself political opposition was not permitted. The Muslim Brotherhood regarded the Alawis as heretics and disliked the State's secular outlook. In 1982 fundamentalist Muslims attacked Ba'th officials in the city of Hama. They were brutally crushed with Asad accusing the Brotherhood of being in the pay of the Americans and Iraqis. Asad himself developed the cult of personality which portrayed him as the leader of the country not just the leader of the government.Asad's regime emphasised foreign policy but did invest heavily in changing Syria's economy to forge a nation. In practice Syria spent what it was unable to create thanks to foreign aid. Socialist ideals were abandoned in favour of conspicuous consumerism. The regime's human rights record was deplorable. Asad represented the Arabs' desire to be masters of their own destiny but not at the expense of introducing democracy. How long it will continue to do so is moot. Five stars.

I say good but with some reservations. The edition that I had of the book was littered with spelling mistakes and I found that particularly annoying. However, Seale gives us a good portrayal of the late Hafez al Assad and his rise to power and subsequent struggle to keep it. Most interesting was the account of his struggle with the international events and crises of the day. Sometimes I felt that Seale was not as impartial as he should have been when discussing the regimes struggle with its opponents and detractors.

I would not call myself a fan of political literature, yet I found this book absolutely riveting. Don't be fooled by the title, it's much more than just a biography of the mysterious Syrian leader. The book explains the background to the current problems in the Middle East and does not shy away from exposing the Israeli Middle East agenda and it's Washington allies. The book offers very fair commentary and illustrates how Kissinger and his cronies have created a time-bomb in this part of the World. It dispels the carefully cultivated myth of Israeli "self defence" and is a damming indictment of a grossly biased US policy that can only harm America in the longer term.It's undoubtedly uncomfortable reading for us in the West and forces us to question our perceptions. For instance, how do we define terrorism and who are the real terrorists in the Middle East ? Why was it deemed critical to knock Saddam Hussein down to size after the Iran - Iraq war? Why is Israel able to consistently flout / side step and break both international conventions and UN resolutions? All these issues and more are answered in this superb commentary book."Asad" does of course delve the personality of this modern statesman and offers insight into his shrewdness and the events that shape his policies. He is portrayed as an essentially peaceful man who wants peace but not a peace dictated by exclusively Israeli terms. In short, he is the one Arab leader who understands the need to negotiate from a position of equality with Israel. The Syrian leader does of course have a darker side to his personality, and the book does not shy away from exposing this. Yet we must temper this with the knowledge that other Middle Eastern personalities (including Rabin, Dayan, Begin, Ben-Gurion and Meir are hardly angels). This book is a "must read". Buy it!