Download or read book State and Tribes in Syria written by Haian Dukhan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-17 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State and Tribes in Syria: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns explores the policies of the successive Syrian governments towards the Arab tribes and their reactions to these policies. The book examines the consequences of the relationship between state and tribe since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and its withdrawal from Syria in 1916 until the eruption of the current Syrian civil war. Throughout history and up to the present day, tribalism continues to influence many issues related to governance, conflict and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The book provides a dissection of a crucial, but neglected axis of the current crisis on the relationship between the state and the tribes. The research draws on data gathered through interviews with members of Syrian tribes, as well as written literature in various languages including English, Arabic and French. The book combines the research focus of political scientists and anthropologists by relating the local patterns (communities and tribal affiliations) to the larger system (state institutions and policies) of which they are a part. State and Tribes in Syria: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns advances our knowledge of an under-studied component of the Syrian society: the tribes. Therefore it is a vital resource for students, scholars and policymakers interested in Syrian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.

Download or read book Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East written by Philip Shukry Khoury and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering a fuller understanding of the complexities and particular patterns of state formation in regions where tribes have exercised a significant influence, this volume focuses on the continuing existence of tribal structures and systems in contemporary times, within contemporary nation-states. The contributors offer hypotheses as to why these groups have managed to survive and what impact they have had on modern states ... --backcover.

Download or read book War and State Formation in Syria written by M. Talha Çiçek and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-02-24 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the First World War, Cemal Pasha attempted to establish direct control over Syrian and thereby reaffirm Ottoman authority there through various policies of control, including the abolishment of local intermediaries. Elaborating on these Ottoman policies of control, this book assesses Cemal Pasha’s policies towards different political groups in Syrian society, including; Arabists, Zionists, Christian clergymen and Armenian immigrants. The author then goes on to analyse Pasha’s educational activities, the conscription of Syrians- both Muslim and Christian, and the reconstruction of the major Syrian cities, assessing how these policies contributed to his attempt to create ideal Ottoman citizens. An important addition to existing literature on the social and political history of World War I, and contributing a new understanding of Ottoman Syria, and its transformation into a nation-state, this book will be of interest to students and scholars with an interest in state formation, Politics and History.

Download or read book The Origins of Democracy in Tribes City States and Nation States written by Ronald M. Glassman and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-19 with total page 1736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This four-part work describes and analyses democracy and despotism in tribes, city-states, and nation states. The theoretical framework used in this work combines Weberian, Aristotelian, evolutionary anthropological, and feminist theories in a comparative-historical context. The dual nature of humans, as both an animal and a consciously aware being, underpins the analysis presented. Part One covers tribes. It uses anthropological literature to describe the “campfire democracy” of the African Bushmen, the Pygmies, and other band societies. Its main focus is on the tribal democracy of the Cheyenne, Iroquois, Huron, and other tribes, and it pays special attention to the role of women in tribal democracies. Part Two describes the city-states of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Canaan-Phoenicia, and includes a section on the theocracy of the Jews. This part focuses on the transition from tribal democracy to city-state democracy in the ancient Middle East – from the Sumerian city-states to the Phoenician. Part Three focuses on the origins of democracy and covers Greece—Mycenaean, Dorian, and the Golden Age. It presents a detailed description of the tribal democracy of Archaic Greece – emphasizing the causal effect of the hoplite-phalanx military formation in egalitarianizing Greek tribal society. Next, it analyses the transition from tribal to city-state democracy—with the new commercial classes engendering the oligarchic and democratic conflicts described by Plato and Aristotle. Part Four describes the Norse tribes as they contacted Rome, the rise of kingships, the renaissance of the city-states, and the parliamentary monarchies of the emerging nation-states. It provides details of the rise of commercial city states in Renaissance Italy, Hanseatic Germany and the Netherlands.

Download or read book Destroying a Nation written by Nikolaos Van Dam and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Arab Spring, Syria descended into civil and sectarian conflict. It has since become a fractured warzone which operates as a breeding ground for new terrorist movements including ISIS as well as the root cause of the greatest refugee crisis in modern history. In this important book, former Special Envoy of the Netherlands to Syria, Nikolaos van Dam, explains the recent history of Syria, covering the growing disenchantment with the Asad regime, the chaos of civil war and the fractures which led to an immense amount of destruction in the refined social fabric of what used to be the Syrian nation. Through an in-depth examination, van Dam traces political developments within the Asad regime and the various opposition groups from the Arab Spring to the present day, and provides a deeper insight into the conflict and the possibilities and obstacles for reaching a political solution.

Download or read book The Lost Tribes of Israel written by Tudor Parfitt and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited. This book was released on 2002 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tudor Parfitt examines a myth which is based on one of the world's oldest mysteries - what happened to the lost tribes of Israel? Christians and Jews alike have attached great importance to the legendary fate of these tribes which has had a remarkable impact on their ideologies throughout history. Each tribe of Israel claimed descent from one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the land of Israel was eventually divided up between them. Following a schism which formed after the death of Solomon, ten of the tribes set up an independent northern kingdom, whilst those of Judah and Levi set up a separate southern kingdom. In 721BC the ten northern tribes were ethnically cleansed by the Assyrians and the Bible states they were placed: in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the city of Medes. The Bible also foretold that one day they would be reunited with the southern tribes in the final redemption of the people of Israel. Their subsequent history became a tapestry of legend and hearsay. The belief persisted that they had been lost in some remote part of the world and there were countless suggestions and claims as to where.

Download or read book Syria s Peasantry the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables and Their Politics written by Hanna Batatu and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the distinguished scholar Hanna Batatu presents a comprehensive analysis of the recent social, economic, and political evolution of Syria's peasantry, the segment of society from which the current holders of political power stem. Batatu focuses mainly on the twentieth century and, in particular, on the Ba`th movement, the structures of power after the military coup d'état of 1963, and the era of îvfiz al-Asad, Syria's first ruler of peasant extraction. Without seeking to prove any single theory about Syrian life, he offers a uniquely rich and detailed account of how power was transferred from one demographic group to another and how that power is maintained today. Batatu begins by examining social differences among Syria's peasants and the evolution of their mode of life and economic circumstances. He then scrutinizes the peasants' forms of consciousness, organization, and behavior in Ottoman and Mandate times and prior to the Ba`thists' rise to power. He explores the rural aspects of Ba`thism and shows that it was not a single force but a plurality of interrelated groups--prominent among them the descendants of the lesser rural notables--with different social goals and mental horizons. The book also provides a perceptive account of President Asad, his personality and conduct, and the characteristics and power structures of his regime. Batatu draws throughout on a wide range of socioeconomic and biographical information and on personal interviews with Syrian peasants and political leaders, offering invaluable insights into the complexities of a country and a regime that have long been poorly understood by outsiders.

Download or read book Spillover from the Conflict in Syria written by William Young and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2014-08-27 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All roads lead to Damascus and then back out again, but in different directions. The financial and military aid flowing into Syria from patrons and neighbors is intended to determine the outcome of the conflict between a loose confederation of rebel factions and the regime in Damascus. Instead, this outside support has the potential to perpetuate the existing civil war and to ignite larger regional hostilities between Sunni and Shia areas that could reshape the political geography of the Middle East. This report examines the main factors that are likely to contribute to or impede the spread of violence from civil war and insurgency in Syria, and then examines how they apply to Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan.

Download or read book Nomads and Settlers in Syria and Jordan 1800 1980 written by Norman N. Lewis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the land and people of parts of the interior of Syria and Jordan. At the beginning of the nineteenth century most of the people were nomads and only a small proportion of the land was cultivated. Today nomads are few, peasants are numerous and nearly all the land that will bear a crop is under cultivation. This study shows how the present situation came about as the state extended and strengthened its hold on the countryside, the economy of the country developed, landlords and peasants took up hitherto uncultivated land and nomads settled down to become farmers. The concluding chapters discuss the effects of population growth, mechanised farming and overgrazing on the semi-arid environment and its inhabitants. Norman Lewis combines geographical, historical and ethnographical material derived from an immense variety of sources, including unpublished manuscripts and fieldwork undertaken over a period of forty years.

Download or read book The Battle for Syria written by Christopher Phillips and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unprecedented analysis of the crucial but underexplored roles the United States and other nations have played in shaping Syria’s ongoing civil war “One of the best informed and non-partisan accounts of the Syrian tragedy yet published.”—Patrick Cockburn, Independent Syria’s brutal, long-lasting civil war is widely viewed as a domestic contest that began in 2011 and only later drew foreign nations into the fray. But in this book Christopher Phillips shows the crucial roles that were played by the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar in Syria’s war right from the start. Phillips untangles the international influences on the tragic conflict and illuminates the West’s strategy against ISIS, the decline of U.S. power in the region, and much more. Originally published in 2016, the book has been updated with two new chapters.

Download or read book The Reform of Russia s Conventional Armed Forces written by Roger N. McDermott and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reforming Russia's conventional armed forces, modernizing its weapons and equipment, and reorienting its military to suit the needs of the state and the changing nature of modern conflict has been long overdue. Numerous failed attempts to conduct such reform predisposed Russian and international observers to be skeptical of any renewed efforts to address this issue. In the aftermath of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and the ensuing crisis in NATO-Russia relations, Moscow finally launched a genuine and systemic reform agenda that has changed the face of the Russian armed forces. Its longer-term success remains questionable. The Reform of Russia's Conventional Armed Forces traces the complex origins of the reform and its numerous twists and assesses the key challenges its faces. Roger N. McDermott examines the obstacles confronting Russian defense planners as they seek to transform the military education system, encourage high standards among the officer corps, train suitable noncommissioned officers, and overcome the weaknesses of the domestic defense industry to facilitate modernization. Moscow's long-term political and economic support will be necessary, as pursuit of reform is likely to result in a lengthy period of transition for the armed forces. Whether, or to what extent, such challenges are sufficiently resolved will determine the Russian states' future capability to project military power, preserve the country's territorial integrity, and validate its claims to "great power" status.

Download or read book How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs written by Elizabeth F. Thompson and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2021-04 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of a pivotal moment in modern world history, when representative democracy became a political option for Arabs - and how the West denied the opportunity.

Download or read book Negotiating Empire in the Middle East written by M. Talha Çiçek and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines how negotiations between the Ottomans and Arab nomads played a part in the making of the modern Middle East.

Download or read book Syria s Kurds written by Jordi Tejel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-08-29 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jordi Tejel presents – combining different disciplines such as history, sociology and anthropology – a new understanding of the dynamics leading to the consolidation of a Kurdish minority awareness in contemporary Syria. The book explores in particular how conditions for a change in ethnic strategy, from one of 'dissimulation' to one of 'visibility', have emerged amongst Syria's Kurds.

Download or read book The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism written by Michael Provence and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-09-17 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical study of the 1925 revolt against French rule in Syria, and how it established a new popular nationalism that helped shape the Middle East. The Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 was the first mass movement against colonial rule in the Middle East. Mobilizing peasants, workers, and army veterans, it was also the region’s largest and longest-lasting anti-colonial insurgency during the inter-war period. Though the revolt failed to liberate Syria from French occupation, it provided a model of popular nationalism and resistance that remains potent in the Middle East today. Each subsequent Arab uprising against foreign rule has repeated the language and tactics of the Great Syrian Revolt. In this work, Michael Provence uses newly released secret colonial intelligence sources, neglected memoirs, and popular memory to tell the story of the revolt from the perspective of its participants. He shows how Ottoman-subsidized military education created a generation of leaders who rebelled against both the French Mandate rulers of Syria and the Syrian elite who helped the colonial regime. This new popular nationalism was unprecedented in the Arab world. Provence shows compellingly that the Great Syrian Revolt was a formative event in shaping the modern Middle East.

Download or read book Fractured Lands written by Scott Anderson and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2017-05-02 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of Lawrence in Arabia, a piercing account of how the contemporary Arab world came to be riven by catastrophe since the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq. In 2011, a series of anti-government uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa in what would become known as the Arab Spring. Few could predict that these convulsions, initially hailed in the West as a triumph of democracy, would give way to brutal civil war, the terrors of the Islamic State, and a global refugee crisis. But, as New York Times bestselling author Scott Anderson shows, the seeds of catastrophe had been sown long before. In this gripping account, Anderson examines the myriad complex causes of the region’s profound unraveling, tracing the ideological conflicts of the present to their origins in the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and beyond. From this investigation emerges a rare view into a land in upheaval through the eyes of six individuals—the matriarch of a dissident Egyptian family; a Libyan Air Force cadet with divided loyalties; a Kurdish physician from a prominent warrior clan; a Syrian university student caught in civil war; an Iraqi activist for women’s rights; and an Iraqi day laborer-turned-ISIS fighter. A probing and insightful work of reportage, Fractured Lands offers a penetrating portrait of the contemporary Arab world and brings the stunning realities of an unprecedented geopolitical tragedy into crystalline focus.

Download or read book The Kurds of Northern Syria written by Harriet Allsopp and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-08-08 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on unprecedented access to Kurdish-governed areas of Syria, including exclusive interviews with administration officials and civilian surveys, this book sheds light on the socio-political landscape of this minority group and the various political factions vying to speak for them. The first English-language book to capture the momentous transformations that have occurred since 2011, the authors move beyond idealized images of Rojava and the Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party) to provide a nuanced assessment of the Kurdish autonomous experience and the prospects for self-rule in Syria. The book draws on unparalleled field research, as well as analysis of the literature on the evolution of Kurdish politics and the Syrian war. You will understand why the PYD-led project in Syria split the Kurdish political movement and how other representative structures amongst Syria's Kurds fared. Emerging clearly are the complex range of views about pre-existing, current and future governance structures.