Concept of Syrian Nationalism in the Ideas of the Syro-Lebanese Orthodox Christian Thinker Antoun Saadeh

Abstract

This article analyses one of the most important philosophical and political concepts of the Arab world, i.e., the concept of Syrian nationalism, which later became the ideological basis of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and had a significant impact on the historical development of the Syrian State and the Levant of the Middle East in the mid-twentieth century. The study mainly draws on the following works by Antoun Saadeh: The Rise of Nations, The Ten Lectures, and Islam in its Two Messages. The article closely considers the historical context of emerging political ideologies in the Arab world of the twentieth century. During the research, the author of the article makes an attempt to describe the main elements of Antoun Saadeh’s Syrian nationalism concept and then briefly analyse the reasons for its failure that led to the spread of Michel Aflaq’s Arab nationalism as a state ideology of the Syrian Arab Republic. The article pays considerable attention to environmental determinism in Saadeh’s thoughts, his attitude to religion, place and role of the Syrian State and its people in the Middle East as well as impact of Syrian nationalism on developing other “local” nationalisms in Arab states neighbouring Syria. A substantial part of the article is devoted to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) which was formed in 1932, its political principles, goals and tasks, religious composition, relations both with the official authorities in Syria and Lebanon and the rivalling Arab Socialist Baʿath Party. Finally, the article makes a conclusion regarding the reasons for the failure of the SSNP in the domestic political field of the states above.