Syria The United States And The War On Terror In The Middle East

Ever since Syria won its independence from France in 1946, it has been a crucial player in Middle Eastern politics. Over the years, relations between the United States and Syria have fluctuated as Washington has tried to balance its commitment to Israel's security with its support for Arab regimes in order to protect vital and strategic interests in the Arab world. The Arab-Israeli conflict is, however. no longer the only focal point of the relationship. Now, terrorism has entered the fray. On the State Department's terrorism list since 1979, Syria became even more persona non grata as far as Washington was concerned when Damascus vocally opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The American war in Iraq, occupation, and promotion of democracy throughout the Middle East pose a strong challenge to the Syrian regime. The new Syrian leadership, in power only since 2000, faces immense challenges—protecting Syria's regional status and surviving internal and external threats. Against this background, Syria and the United States have set themselves on a collision course over terrorism, arms proliferation, Lebanon, the Middle East peace process, and Iraq. Syria is, nevertheless, extremely important to the United States, because it can be a force for either stability or instability in an extremely volatile region. Recent events have put the spotlight on Syria's policies and actions. After the assassination of a Lebanese politician, protests in Lebanon led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops. While the withdrawal averted an immediate threat of bloodshed, the Bush administration accused Syria of being a source of instability in the Middle East, with Secretary of State Rice charging that Syria was still active in Lebanon and was supporting foreign terrorists fueling the insurgency in Iraq. The U.S.-Syrian relationship is of critical importance to the United States' efforts to promote democracy throughout the Middle East. At the same time, the United States has been pressuring Syria to clamp down on terrorism within its own borders. Rabil provides a history of the modern U.S.-Syrian relationship, putting the latest events in the context of this contemporary history, and placing the relationship in the context of Middle Eastern politics.

The attacks of September 11 were transformative events, both in how Americans view their own sense of security and in how America engages with the world. Although the initial battle in the U.S.-led war against terror has been fought in central and south Asia, the principles behind that campaign have special resonance in the Middle East. This region is home to organizations which share both ideology and methodology with the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, many aspects of the threat to U.S. interests are particular to the region: the frightening spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery; the ongoing challenge to the international system posed by Iraq; and, perhaps most of all, the reluctance that many U.S. allies in the region exhibit to confront their own religious militants. In this volume, key U.S. and Middle East decision makers, academics, and journalists discuss important themes such as the common interests of regional states in cooperating against terrorism, the different strategies adopted by regimes in confronting their Islamist challenges, the impact of September 11 events on the Israeli-Palestinian arena, the problems and prospects of maintaining the antiterror coalition, and the role of democracy as an antidote to the regions ills.

Neither stability nor change in the post-colonial Arab world can be fully understood without considering the international context, and American Foreign policy in particular. However, the exact nature of America’s presence in the Arab world, and the scope and modes of its influence, all appear to have reached a crossroads since the Arab uprisings. ‘US Hard Power in the Arab World’ traces the US’s "power of persuasion" in the Arab Middle East from the onset of the War on Terror in 2001 through to the Arab Spring. With a particular focus on Syria, the book explores the limits of an American "smart power" amid the emergence of a growing indigenous "soft power" whose ire is directed not only at Assad’s regime, but also at the violence perpetrated or enabled by the international community, headed by the US. It is argued that the blurring of the two forms of "soft" and "hard" American power has tarnished the credibility of US policies geared to win hearts and minds in the Arab world. ‘US Hard Power in the Arab World’ narrates the contests between attraction and intimidation, public diplomacy and military occupation, elites and publics, seduction and resistance. Drawing upon a multitude of primary sources, including personal interviews with Syrian activists and opposition figures, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East Politics, as well as those concerned with American Foreign Policy and the Arab Spring.

As Bashar al-Asad rescinds emergency rule in the face of demonstrations and protests, Syria finds itself in a key position in a Middle East beset by regional tensions, the repercussions of the global 'war on terror' and popular uprisings. The bloodless coup by General Hafez al-Assad, in 1970, put in place a powerful autocratic machinery at the core of the state which continues till today under the control of his son Bashar. Here Radwan Ziadeh presents a fresh and penetrating analysis of Syria's political structure - a 'despotic' state monopoly, a bureaucratic climate marked by fear, and the administrative structure through which centralized control is exercised. With a focus on Syria's intelligence services which have significant influence in legal and policy decisions, and the conditions and patterns of foreign policy decision-making, particularly vis-a-vis the US, 'Power and Policy in Syria' is essential reading for all those interested in Syria, the modern Middle East, International Relations and Security Studies.

An authoritative introduction to ISIS—now expanded and revised to bring events up to the present The Islamic State stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. However, its most striking and distinctive characteristic was its capacity to build governing institutions and a theologically grounded national identity. What explains the rise of ISIS and the caliphate, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world’s leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling explanation of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS. This new edition brings the story of ISIS to the present, covering key events—from the military defeat of its territorial state to the death of its leader al-Baghdadi—and analyzing how the ongoing Syrian, Iraqi, and Saudi-Iranian conflict could lead to ISIS’s revival.

This volume is a collection of articles that critically examine the efficacy, ethics, and impact of the War on Terror as it has evolved since 9/11. During the decade and a half of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), numerous books have considered the political, psychosocial, and economic impacts of terrorism. However, there has been little systematic effort to examine the effectiveness of the GWOT in achieving its goals. Furthermore, there is virtually nothing that presents a comparative analysis of the GWOT by the people most directly affected by it—citizens and scholars from conflict zones in the Middle East. There is, therefore, great need for a book that analyzes the strategies, tactics, and outcomes of the GWOT and that also presents facts and ideas that are missing or underrepresented in the dominant public narratives. The contributions in this volume were chosen to specifically address this need. In doing so, it uniquely provides not only Western perspectives of the GWOT, but also importantly includes perspectives from the Middle East and those most directly affected by it, including contributions from scholars and policy makers. Overall, the contributions demonstrate how views differ based on geographical location, and how views have changed during the course of the still-evolving War on Terror. The book will be of much interest to students and scholars of terrorism and counter-terrorism, foreign policy, Middle Eastern politics, security studies and IR, as well as policy makers.