Language Atlas of Syria Book Review
Reviewed by Dr. Nikolaos van Dam, available as a PDF file: here. (Language: English.)
The Struggle for Power in Syria: Sectarianism, Regionalism and Tribalism in Politics
نيقوﻻوس فان دام، الصراع على السلطة في سوريا: الطائفية واﻹقليمية والعشائرية في السياسة
PDF Download: The Struggle for Power in Syria (Arabic, Internet Edition)
The author permits downloads for private reading.
Nikolaos van Dam, The Struggle for Power in Syria: Sectarianism, Regionalism and Tribalism in Politics (Arabic internet edition)
Nikolaos van Dam’s book is a classical study of politics and society in modern Syria. Explaining the factors that have enabled the regime of Hafiz al-Asad to stay in power much longer than any other since indepence, the book shows how Asad’s disappearance may one day seriously disrupt Syria’s uneasy stability.
Through an in-depth examination of the role of sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties, van Dam traces developments within the Ba’th Party and the military and civilian power elite from the 1963 Ba’this takeover up to the present day. He shows how the period of profound social change that followed 1963 saw the rise of the Islamic minority communities in national politics and the transformation of the lives of people from the countryside. Particular attention is given to issues such as the implications for Syria’s future of the monopolization of power by Asad and his Alawi-dominated officer’s faction (which was inherited by his successor-son Bashar al-Asad); Sunni opposition to the regime; and the evolution of Syrian politics through the 1980s and 90s. This book will be of graet interest to students of politics and society in the Middle East and the Third World.
“An excellent book” — PATRICK SEALE
“An admirable study… invaluable for anyone with a serious interest in Middle Eastern Politics.” — PHILIP S. KHOURY
“The classic study on the ‘Alawi factor in Syrian politics… Van Dam has consistently rejected crude interpretations of Syrian politics that reduce all analysis to the ‘Alawi factor alone” — MIDDLE EAST WATCH
Dr. Nikolaos van Dam is a specialist on Syria and is currently Ambassador of the Netherlands in Indonesia.
Arabic synopsis of The Struggle for Power in Syria (click to enlarge):
Related Discussion
Discussion about The Struggle for Power in Syria in al-Safir & al-Diyar, 28 April 1995
Munaqashat Tarikh ”al-Sira’ ‘ala a-Sultah fi Suriya” , al-Safir & al-Diyar, 28 April 1995 - 11 July 1995.
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De vrede die niet kwam / The Peace that Did Not Come (e-book download)
The authors and the publisher, Bulaaq, give you permission to download this eBook for your private perusal.
De vrede die niet kwam
Door Nikolaos van Dam & Jan KeulenDe Nederlandse politicoloog en arabist Koos van Dam geldt als een van de meest ervaren diplomaten in het Midden-Oosten, de Volkskrant-correspondent Jan Keulen als een van de meest ter zake kundigen in hetzelfde, immer explosieve gebied. In 1981 ontmoetten zij elkaar onder dramatische omstandigheden tijdens de burgeroorlog in Libanon. Sindsdien zijn ze bijna onafgebroken, als vrienden op afstand en met eenzelfde persoonlijke betrokkenheid bij de grote en kleine ontwikkelingen in de Arabische wereld aanwezig geweest.
Voor Koos van Dam is het moment gekomen een balans op te maken van twintig jaar Nederlandse Midden-Oosten-diplomatie. Hij diende achtereenvolgens in Beiroet tijdens de burgeroorlog, in het Libie van Kaddafi en in Irak tijdens de Golfoorlog. Zijn laatste Arabische post was Egypte, de ‘moe-der van de (Arabische) wereld’. Nadien was hij ambassadeur in achtereenvolgens ambassadeur in Turkije, Duitsland en thans Indonesie.
De vrede die niet kwam is een journalistieke neerslag van lange en intensieve gesprekken die de journalist Jan Keulen had met de diplomaat Nikolaos van Dam over zijn werk als diplomaat en over de centrale thema’s in het Midden-Oosten: de Palestijnse kwestie, Irak, Syrie, Libanon, democratie en mensenrechten, fundamentalisme en de Arabische verhouding met het Westen
Download The Peace that Did Not Come in PDF format (language: Dutch)
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My Name is Baghdad, a song of Madinat AlSalaam Tina Arena in French with English translation on screen.
Reference Texts