Reddit reviews Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East

If you want an actual answer to this question, it is not enough to examine Assad's (and the regime's) conduct since the beginning of the uprising in 2011. You can only get the full picture if you understand the composition and the statecraft of the regime since Assad pere wrested power from his intra-regime opponents in 1970. Some books worth reading are Hinnebusch's excellent primer on the rise of the Ba'ath Party (and later, the Assad clan) to power (Syria: Revolution From Above), Hanna Batatu's classic examination of [Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics]
(https://www.amazon.com/Syrias-Peasantry-Descendants-Notables-Politics/dp/0691002541), Lisa Wedeen on the cultural and ideological methods the regime uses to maintain power (Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria), and Patrick Seale's highly readable book on Hafez al-Assad and his Struggle for the Middle East. A more recent work dealing with the economic underpinnings of the regime (Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience) is also worth your time.

In short, take a good look at the nature of the regime and its policies over the last four decades and decide for yourself whether it is incapable of committing the war crimes it is accused of. You could also go through the many detailed reports human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch have put together alleging regime crimes, most recently their report on the Khan Sheikhoun nerve gas attack and the regime's ongoing use of chemical weapons.

Hey, so I'll try to give you my point of view, that is somewhat aligned with the view of the majority of secular people opposing Assad.

> What was Syria before war?

It was a dictatorship, with the apparent stability, the rooted corruption, and lack of freedom of speech that usually characterize one. The 30 years of Hafez al Assad ruling was an iron fist type of dictatorship, banning of parties, news papers and media, imprisonment of opposition, praising of the eternal leader. despite the seemingly peaceful era, Assad the father's rule faced several external challenges and was involved in several regional wars (October War aka. Yom Kippur War, Lebanese Civil War, and The Gulf war I&II, as well as internal challenges (Muslim brotherhood uprising that resulted in 1982 Hama massacre, and a coup attempt by his brother Refaat in 1984, and the death of his eldest son Bassel that he was preparing to be his successor).

When Bashar al Assad assumed power in the early 2000s he tried to lessen up the iron fist by opening up the market (did I mention that the market was pure socialist before?), introducing the internet to Syria, and giving permission for new newspapers, in a prior called Damascus Spring. But what seemed as an attempt of a soft transitioning to democracy was soon revealed to be just an aesthetic make-over, with an new wave of prosecution of the opposition after what is called Damascus Deceleration, the assassination of Rafic al Hariri the prime minister of Lebanon, the following Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, that resulted in kicking out the Syrian army from Lebanon (that's another long story), and the 2004 Qamishli riots

> Why did Syrians started revolution against Assad?

The short answer: To follow the steps of the rest of the Arab world, hoping for reforms, transition of power, and more freedom of speech.

The long answer: With the transition to an open market system, and almost no reforms to the judicial system, the corruption that Assad the father kept under control by holding all the strings, exploded. And since Assad the son tried to appeal to the public by getting the old guards out of the picture, he lost control over many of the corrupted personals that his father kept in place. Add to that the drought that hit Syria around 2006 forcing millions of people to leave there rural areas and move to the cities. All of this widened the gap between the classes of the Syrian population practically eliminating the middle class.

> What would you tell them?

Since Assad took power he persecuted, imprisoned, and exiled every possible alternative, and presented himself as the only option.
During the uprising he continued persecuting and targeting any opposing voice including secular activists, journalists, and aid workers.
He actively helped turn the uprising into an Islamic one, by releasing some of his radical prisoners from Sednaya prison like Zahran Alloush who went to become the commander of Jaysh al-Islam.
The civilian death toll of the government force continues to be by far the highest among all other factions.
So I can't seem to understand how will Assad secure and rebuild the country when he's been actively destroying it for the past almost 7 years.

> By your flair, I see you support Syrian Opposition. As I mentioned earlier, they are often described as religious extremists. What is your opinion?

I do not support the opposition, for the same reason I don't support Assad, they are corrupted, power thirsty assholes who don't present a solution for Syria. This flag was the Syrian flag after the independence, not the opposition flag, most Islamist factions has their own flags and most of them ban the use of this flag in areas under their control.

> Are you a refugee? Where do you live now?

I'm living in Lebanon, I'm not a refugee.

> What do Syrians think about Assad?

If there was one answer to this question there wouldn't be a civil war right now, a lot of them oppose him for various reasons, and a lot of them support him also for various reasons.

> Could you recommend me some books about Syria, Arabs, religion or whole region of ME to better understand your point of view? I am mostly interested in history books, but fiction is also welcomed.

I'd say Patrick Seale's Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East (1989) is a good read to understand Hafez al Assad's period, it will give you a glimpse into the structure of the regime and helps you build a foundation for further readings.

Hope that wasn't too long (it was), and you didn't get bored half way through, if you have some more time and would like to read more about the Syrian civil war and what caused it the wiki page on the subject is fairly good.
Also if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer.

Cheers.

It all depends on what kind of angle you're looking for.

Here is by no means an exhaustive list. I must say I haven't read all of these but have come across them in research and from previous recommendations on here, but here goes:

Background/Social & Historical contexts/Other relevant stuff

Patrick Seale - Assad (rather old, good for history)

Tarek Osman - Islamism (2016, broad coverage of Islamism in theory and practice, good context)

John Robertson - Iraq (2016)

John McHugo - Syria (2015)

Sami Moubayed - Syria & The USA (2013)

Sami Moubayed - Damascus Between Democracy and Dictatorship (2000, very good for Syrian history and experience with democracy)


Perceived pro-original opposition bias

Diana Darke - My House in Damascus (new version came out 2015)

Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan - ISIS (2015)

Charles Lister - The Syrian Jihad (2016)

Perceived pro-government bias

Patrick Cockburn - Rise of the Islamic State (2015, this might not be as detailed as you'd want it to be)

Kurds

Michael Knapp, Ercan Ayboga & Anja Flach - Revolution Rojava (2016, the detail in this is beyond insane)