Syrian Uprising

Raymond Hinnebusch is Professor of International Relations and Middle East Politics at the University of St Andrews and founder and director of the Centre for Syrian Studies. He is the author of numerous articles and books on Syria.Omar Imady is Director for Outreach and Information Dissemination, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St. Andrews. His professional experience combines practical fieldwork as a UN Officer in Syria and as an Academic Dean and he is the author of several UN reports, historical works, and analytic studies on Syria and the Middle East.

This volume is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the tragic trajectory of Syria’s Uprising. Hinnesbusch and Imady have brought together a fascinating collection of chapters that explore the early years of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad and why it transformed from largely peaceful demonstrations into a brutal, protracted civil war. As well as looking at why Assad proved more vulnerable than many expected and why people rose up against him, the editors seek to explain why the uprising ultimately failed to bring about democratic transition...some of the gems of this collection are those chapters focussing on under-explored dimensions of the crisis...for those seeking to understand how Syria reached its current, sad state, this volume would be an excellent place to start.Chris Phillips, Queen Mary, University of London, UKThe popular tendency to attribute the Syrian uprising’s tragic evolution to some combination of sectarianism, external interference, or authoritarian path dependency often obscures the multilayered dynamics that shaped the conflict’s first years. From the vantage point of today, it is often easy to forget how the uprising emerged and spread, what actors were involved and why, and how Syrians navigated various sides of the ambiguously emerging political and sectarian divides. This volume is an excellent and timely reminder of the political diversity and the landscape of possibilities that existed in Syria and how different actors, ideas, and strategies shaped the early stages of the uprising. Far from suggesting a linear story, these contributions remind us of the intersecting elements that have driven the Syrian tragedy and is thus essential reading for anyone interested in the causes of the conflict and its various trajectories. Samer Abboud, Arcadia University, USAIt is the first multi-disciplinary academic study to examine the internal dynamics of how the Syrian conflict evolved in the early years (2011-13), before foreign actors such as ISIS, Iran and Russia intervened and changed its course irrevocably. With media coverage these days focusing so much on these more recent developments, this volume promises to be an important corrective to remind us how it all began.Diana Darke, The Times Literary Supplement, July 13, 2018.

• 1. Introduction: Origins of the Syrian Uprising – from structure to agency, Raymond Hinnebusch and Omar Imady 2. The tragedy of Ba’thist state-building, Adham Saouli 3. The power of 'Sultanism': Why Syria’s non-violent protests did not lead to a democratic transition, Søren Schmidt 4. The dynamics of power in Syria: Generalized corruption and sectarianism, Stéphane Valter 5. The Uprising and the economic interests of the Syrian Military-Mercantile Complex, Salam Said 6. Revisiting the political economy of the Syrian Uprising, Fred H. Lawson 7. Tutelary authoritarianism and the shifts between secularism and Islam in Syria, Line Khatib 8. Organisationally secular: Damascene Islamist movements and the Syrian Uprising, Omar Imady 9. Bashar's fateful decision, David W. Lesch 10. Syria's Alawis: Structure, perception and agency in the Syrian security dilemma, Leon Goldsmith 11. Emergence of the political voice of Syria’s civil society: the non-violent movements of the Syrian Uprising, Tamara Al-Om 12. Demands for dignity and the Syrian Uprising, Juliette Harken 13. Mediating the Syrian revolt: how new media technologies change the development of social movements and conflicts, Billie Jeanne Brownlee 14. Unblurring ambiguities: Assessing the Impact of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in the Syrian revolution, Naomí Ramírez Díaz 15. Sectarianism and the battle of narratives in the context of the Syrian Uprising, Enrico Bartolomei 16. Sunni/Alawi identity clashes during the Syrian Uprising: A continuous reproduction? Ola Rifai 17. The rise of Syrian Salafism: From denial to recognition, Issam Eido 18. From a window in Jaramana: Imperial sectarianism and the impact of war on a Druze neighbourhood in Syria, Maria Kastrinou 19. The Left in the Syrian Uprising, Ferdinand Arslanian 20. Political incongruity between the Kurds and the ‘opposition’ in the Syrian Uprising, Deniz Çifçi 21. Conclusion: The early trajectory of the Syrian Uprising: From agency to structure, Omar Imady and Raymond Hinnebusch