Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #648083 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 286 pages

Synopsis
"A detailed analytic portrait of Syria under the Asad dynasty, offering a new strategy for achieving American foreign policy and security objectives in the Middle East, largely independent of the Arab-Israeli peace process"--Provided by publisher.

Customer Reviews

Syria - Almost Explained
Despite somewhat dry writing and rapidly evolving events on the ground, this is a compelling book for anyone interested in the Middle East. Former U.S. State Department and C.I.A. Syria-expert Flynt Leverett covers the history, personalities and strategies of the late dictator, Hafiz Al-Asad, and his son, Bashar, Syria's current ruler. The author explains U.S. diplomatic options and traces the evolution of Syria, an impoverished rogue dictatorship long under U.S. sanctions as a state that supports terrorism. He devotes about 30% of his well-researched book to a chronology, appendix and footnotes. He provides extensive support materials to demonstrate why a country with so many internal needs has become such a devoted patron of terrorism, imbued with the purpose of destabilizing Western Democracies' policies and spoiling any regional peace efforts. Leverett also addresses the U.S. State Department's near tolerance of much of Syria's international troublemaking. While he presents clear descriptions, he offers no clear-cut answers - as if there are any - but offers possible scenarios, mostly stalemates, in this drawn-out international chess game. We recommend this book as important reading on U.S. foreign policy.