Overview

A wide-ranging examination of the causes of war in Syria and the Middle East. In War in Syria and the Middle East, Federico Manfredi Firmian uses historical, political, and economic lenses to examine how Syria’s civil war is part of a broad pattern of social breakdown increasingly prevalent across the Arab and Islamic worlds. This expansive book argues that many conflicts across the Middle East today are rooted in fundamental ideological divides that originated with European imperialism. In Syria, the iniquities of French rule gave way to the radicalism of the Arab Socialist Baʿth Party, which promised to dismantle imperial legacies and capitalist logics through nationalizations, land redistribution, and central planning. Baʿthist Syria, however, ultimately failed to provide a viable alternative to capitalism. In fact, its failures, and the failures of other revolutionary regimes of socialist inspiration, provided an opening for armed Islamist movements to challenge both secular authoritarian rule and US foreign policies-ultimately leading to civil war. Combining a multidisciplinary approach with fieldwork, War in Syria and the Middle East argues for a global perspective on a pressing, ongoing conflict.

Full Product Details

9781477331095

Table of Contents

Reviews

Federico Manfredi Firmian provides an insightful economic history of the modern Middle East, focusing on Syria, especially the effects and repercussions of the capitalist world order over the last two centuries. Particularly considering the complicated nature of the region, War in Syria and the Middle East offers an astute and accessible examination. -- David W. Lesch, Trinity University, author of Syria: A Modern History

Author Information

Federico Manfredi Firmian is a lecturer in Political Science at Sciences Po Paris, Associate Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), and Research Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available