Syria
The essential backdrop to the ongoing Syrian crisis, covering one hundred years of Syrian history, from the Great War to the Civil War
“A fluent introduction to Syria’s recent past, this book provides the backstory to the country’s collapse into brutal civil conflict.” —Andrew Arsan, St. John’s College, University of Cambridge
The collapse of Syria into civil war over the past two years has spawned a regional crisis whose reverberations grow louder with each passing month. What are the root causes of the historic upheaval in Syria? In this timely account, John McHugo seeks to contextualize the headlines by providing broad historical perspective and a richly layered analysis of a country few in the United States know or understand.
McHugo charts the history of Syria from World War I to the tumultuous present, examining the country’s thwarted attempts at independence, the French policies that sowed the seeds of internal strife, and the fragility of its foundations as a nation. He then turns to more recent events: religious and sectarian tensions that have riven Syria, the pressures of the Cold War and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and two generations of rule by the Assads.
The result is a fresh and rigorous narrative that explains both the creation and unraveling of the current regime and the roots of the broader Middle East conflict. As the Syrian civil war threatens to draw the U.S. military once again into the Middle East, here is a rare and authoritative guide to a complex nation that demands our attention.
Praise
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