Power and Policy in Syria: Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East

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 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-à-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.

Radwan Ziadeh is a Visiting Scholar at the Carr Center for Human Rights of Harvard University and Visiting Fellow at Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London. He is the founding director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., and has been a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. He is the recipient of the MESA Academic Freedom Award (2009).