Syria

Raymond Hinnebusch traces how the Syrian state took shape over roughly three and a half decades of military rule under the Ba'th party, with a close focus on the presidency of Hafiz al-Asad. The book argues that the weakness of the state after independence, which could not hold back growing nationalist agitation and class tensions, made room for the Ba'th to seize power. It then looks at how the party's program of change imposed from the top reshaped the country's social and political landscape.