Syria: A Modern History

Political scientist Neep (Occupying Syria Under the French Mandate) offers a nuanced history of Syria since the 1800s. Then as now, the region comprised a diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups; the rise of a modern Arab identity helped inhabitants rally together against Ottoman, English, and French imperial rule beginning at the turn of the 20th century. Post-independence, the idea of pan-Arab reunification with neighboring countries became a major source of political contention within the fledgling nation, inflamed at various moments by Israeli expansionism and Western interventionism, and complicated by rising disillusionment with the country’s elites, all of which contributed to the ascendancy of the populist Ba’ath party in the 1950s. After a brief unification with the authoritarian Egyptian government, the increasingly militant Ba’ath party propelled Hafez al-Assad to power in 1970; his decades-long rule of Syria through wily political machinations and brute force led to a pressure cooker of tensions that, exacerbated by the unfulfilled promises of his son, Bashar al-Assad, resulted in the Syrian Civil War. Neep’s eye for detail helps him mount challenges against some long-standing truisms, such as the Ottoman Empire’s characterization as the “Sick Man of Europe,” and offers insight into pressing contemporary questions, including the connections between Syria’s current leadership and the Islamic State. While occasionally dense, it’s an illuminating, comprehensive study of the region. (Feb.)