Modern Syria Research Articles

Romancing the Nation

Abstract Spanning the era of the two Assads (father and son) up to 2007 (the referendum year confirming Bashar al-Assad’s continuation as president) and songs produced during the war, this study will explore the role of ‘love’ (hub) and its relation to ‘blood’ (dam) in the continuity and persistence of heroism in the national narrative. As a form of politics, love and blood have served the Baathist state in obtaining and using power and domination. This article investigates the various ways love as a political tool has been instrumentalized to legitimize the regime and construct national ties and unity. As such, this study interrogates the connection between the sacralization of the nation and the construction of love as a political and cultural tool to subject loyalty and subordination in political culture. Understanding discursive appropriations of love in this way offers a fresh perspective into the meaning—and most importantly, the politics—of love in modern Syria and its relation to Baathism, the Syrian uprising, and popular culture. In this context, the use of the term ‘love’ (hub) by the opposition has become a confirmatory tool of the regime’s illegitimacy. While ‘love’ as a political tool has been instrumentalized by the Syrian Baath regime to consolidate authority, the citizenry now faces many challenges. One of these is not only reversing this imposed ‘love’ with hate or anger towards the regime, but more importantly, rationalizing nationhood and national membership by focusing on establishing civic engagement and representation.

Jawlān

Abstract In this article, we focus on the keyword Jawlān to highlight one of the most critical, if overlooked, dimensions of autocracy in modern Syria. Occupied by Israel in 1967, the Jawlān is a borderland where words have made political relationships possible, sustaining forms of national and kin attachments for decades. We show how, within post-1967 Syria, the Jawlān came to function as a discursive vessel for the state to address its citizenry outside the boundaries of the Golan Heights. When the 2011 moment began, ways of communicating with the state were enacted to both buttress the autocracy and solidify the resistance movement opposing it. We offer an analysis demonstrating how these various ways of hailing had grown out of autocracy but came to frame communications among citizens and structure civic relations beyond the workings of the regime and the geographical scope of its sovereignty. Drawing on the dynamics in play at this moment, we contribute to current discussions on neoliberal autocracy and borderland ontologies, approaching ideological interpellation as a mode of enfolding diasporic Syria spaces and communities outside regime-controlled areas into its political order.

Disturbing spirits: Mental illness, trauma, and treatment in modern Syria and LebanonBeverly A.TsacoyianisNotre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021. 370 pp. $55 cloth; $43.99 EPUB/PDF. ISBN: 9780268200725 (cloth); 9780268200749 (EPUB); 9780268200718 (PDF)

Journal of the History of the Behavioral SciencesEarly View BOOK REVIEW Disturbing spirits: Mental illness, trauma, and treatment in modern Syria and Lebanon , Beverly A. Tsacoyianis Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021. 370 pp. $55 cloth; $43.99 EPUB/PDF. ISBN: 9780268200725 (cloth); 9780268200749 (EPUB); 9780268200718 (PDF) First published: 25 August 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.22226Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

On the Question of studying the modern Syrian Media System

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to study the modern Syrian media system in the conditions of a long-term armed conflict in Syria. The object of the research is the scientific literature devoted to media studies. The subject of the study is the interpretation of the concept of "media system" contained in the works of Russian, Western and Arab authors in the context of modern Syrian media. The purpose of the study is to define the concept of "media system" applicable to the study of modern Syrian media. To achieve the purpose of the study, the authors, having set a number of criteria, conduct a comparative analysis of the definitions of the concept of "media system" contained in the works of the Russian scientific school, researchers of the Western school (including the works of Arab authors integrated into this direction), Syrian official and scientific sources. The scientific novelty of the study is an attempt to generalize the definition of "media system" in the works of representatives of various scientific schools, as well as to develop their own definition of the media system of Syria, applicable to the current state of the country's media during a protracted armed conflict. As a result of the comparative analysis of the definitions of the media system, the authors conclude that the media system of modern Syria is a set of mass media in the territory controlled by the legitimately elected government of the country, functioning in conditions of temporary fragmentation of the country's territory in order to restore information sovereignty. This definition is debatable, but, according to the authors of the article, it is applicable to the Syrian media in conditions of armed conflict.

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Domestication and Dispersal Out of Central Asia

The pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is commercially cultivated in semi-arid regions around the globe. Archaeobotanical, genetic, and linguistic data suggest that the pistachio was brought under cultivation somewhere within its wild range, spanning southern Central Asia, northern Iran, and northern Afghanistan. Historically, pistachio cultivation has primarily relied on grafting, suggesting that, as with many Eurasian tree crops, domestication resulted from genetically locking hybrids or favored individuals in place. Plant domestication and dispersal research has largely focused on weedy, highly adaptable, self-compatible annuals; in this discussion, we present a case study that involves a dioecious long-lived perennial—a domestication process that would have required a completely different traditional ecological knowledge system than that utilized for grain cultivation. We argue that the pistachio was brought under cultivation in southern Central Asia, spreading westward by at least 2000 years ago (maybe a few centuries earlier to the mountains of modern Syria) and moved eastward only at the end of the first millennium AD. The seeds remain rare in archaeological sites outside its native range, even into the mid-second millennium AD, and may not have been widely cultivated until the past few hundred years.

“Ловушка низкоуровневого равновесия” как предпосылка сирийского конфликта

The article contains a country case study of the pre-conflict Syrian Arab Republic of the 2000s illuminating the “low-level equilibrium trap.” This universal theoretical notion was developed in the 1950s by R. Nelson for developing countries. It monitors dynamics in the balance between insufficient savings, investments, relatively low income per capita, and high rates of demographic growth. The relevant imbalances largely caused the failure of attempts carried out in the 2000s by the Syrian authorities to secure a quick transfer from the “Socialist heritage” to the socially oriented market economy. The latter was viewed through the lenses of the “Modern Syria” national concept as the Syrian authorities were de-facto trying to copy the experiences of the People’s Republic of China. In pre-conflict Syria, by hampering sustainable development, the above-mentioned “stalemated balance,” i. e. stagnation, could be compared with other challenges for the Syrian economy like the “poverty trap” along with the “security trap” which emerged after the outbreak of the conflict. Examining for the first time the Syrian version of the “low-level equilibrium trap” together with the dichotomy of premises has acquired practical importance in terms of understanding the genuine roots of the Syrian conflict. It allows the author to acknowledge that the conflict itself has been inspired not by hostile activities of foreign actors only but by domestic drivers as well. The author analyzes the “strength” as a key feature of the “low-level equilibrium trap” which determines perspectives of exiting it with the impact of multiple factors and comparing Syria with neighboring countries. The problematic nature of the above-mentioned feature is likely to be kept after the start of the full-scale post-conflict reconstruction with the Syrians returning to a peaceful life. Finding an exit from the “low-level equilibrium trap” to ensure the effectiveness of the national economy presents an imperative.

The Origins of the Syrian Conflicts

The Origins of the Syrian Conflicts

On Borders and Expansion: Egyptian Imperialism in the Levant during the Ramesside Period

This paper aims to define the way Egyptians perceived the boundaries of their land and reassesses the impact of Egyptian colonialism during the Ramesside period (c. 1292–1069 BCE). During this era, expansive wars, diplomatic action and land administration/governance reforms led Egypt to control a large part of modern Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. To refer to this period, historians often use the terms Egyptian “empire” and Egyptian “imperialism”, extending terminology coined in the 19th century to describe modern cases of political dominance to Late Bronze Age Egypt. Furthermore, traditional scholarship also presents Egypt’s borders in such a way that Egypt appears as a solid territory with fixed borders, despite evidence pointing to a different model of geographical division. Seeking to explore whether the use of modern terms on ancient Egypt may be an anachronism, this paper reviews the scholarship on (a) Egyptian records documenting conquests and (b) contextual archaeological evidence from the southern Near East itself. This review highlights differences between modern and ancient conceptions of land domination. Finally, Egyptian border-related terms are used in a strictly local symbolic cultural context but not in the one of international diplomacy. As for Egypt’s boundary, it was mostly formed as a buffer zone rather than a borderline.

The Makers of Modern Syria: The Rise and Fall of Syrian Democracy, 1918–1958

The Makers of Modern Syria: The Rise and Fall of Syrian Democracy, 1918–1958

Futile Efforts to Create an Arab Kingdom of Syria. From the Idea of Greater Syria to Syria Partitioned under the French Mandate (1915–1922)

The text presents the dynamics and variability of the political options and alliances which shaped the borders of modern Syria in the most crucial period of World War I and the first years of post-war reality in the Middle East. The researchers show how the external interests of the Great Powers took priority over the Syrians’ internal affairs. For the inhabitants of the Levant, it meant the Western practice of ignoring Arab opinions and aspirations in the aftermath of the Great War, which was sealed in the Treaty of Versailles. Despite the positive solutions proposed by The King-Crane Commission (1919), the new post-Ottoman order ignored local identities and political preferences. The new borders were created artificially and determined arbitrarily. The Sykes-Picot agreement reinforced both conspiracy theories in the Middle East and the mythology of the Great Arab Revolt. The competing Western powers took advantage of the local minorities, fueling dislike and strengthening sectarianism. In the years 1919–1920, Pan-Syrianism solidified and took a characteristic form of striving to consolidate the fragmented nation of the Greater Syria. The resolutions of the General Syrian Congress of 2 July 1919 provided timeless premises for the political orientation of the Syrian nationalists, which strongly influenced politics in the Middle East in the following decades. However, the partition of Greater Syria after World War I proved to be one of the worst of many political traumas experienced in the Middle East at that time. Pan-Syrianism was systematically weakened by the conflicting aspirations among the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Palestinians, and Jordanians.

An Exploration of the Christian-Muslim Landscape in Modern Syria and the Contribution of Eastern Christian Thought to Interreligious Dynamics

This paper considers Christian-Muslim relations in modern Syria and the importance that eastern Christian thought can make to the interreligious context within the Middle East. It briefly describes the diverse historical and contemporary Christian and Muslim religious landscapes that have cohabited and interacted within the country and the cultural, religious, and political issues that have impacted the interreligious dynamic. Based on fieldwork undertaken in government-held areas during the Syrian conflict, combined with critical historical and Christian theological reflection, the article contributes to understanding Syria’s diverse religious landscape and the multi-layered expressions of Christian-Muslim relations, in a way that has not been previously attempted. Providing insights into interreligious praxis prior to the conflict and in its midst, the article contributes to an understanding of the effect of conflict on interreligious relationships. The article considers the unique contribution of eastern Christianity to the Christian-Muslim dynamic and concludes that the significance of the theology and spirituality of the ‘Antiochene’ paradigm has been under-recognised in western discourse and that, having coexisted within the cultural environment of Islam, it is uniquely placed to play a major role in Christian-Muslim dialogue and the reframing of Islam’s engagement with modern society.This article contributes therefore to knowledge and understanding of the changing Christian-Muslim dynamic in Syria and the neighbouring region; a new understanding of the religious landscape; and a door to exploring how eastern Christian approaches to Christian-Muslim relations may be sustained and strengthened in the face of the considerable religious and political challenges faced by both communities today.

“Standing before You, World”

Abstract This article examines translation activity in modern Syria and its intersections with original works as a middle ground between world literature and postcolonial studies. It argues for a return to the multiplicity residing within a postcolonial national setting as a way of understanding poetic production in interaction with foreign poetries. Syrian translating as practiced in the state-endorsed literary periodical Al-Adab Al-Ajanbiyya (Foreign Literatures) is studied as a site of tension between a political rhetoric maintained by a growingly invasive state and the narrowing field of individual enterprise. How would world literature figure from the perspective of a state-backed, professedly Arab-socialist culture? How would this construction then be contested by agents struggling to carve out spaces for individual expression? What role does translation play in this struggle? The parameters of postcolonial experience and representation are themselves fought over in an unequal playing field between state power and beleaguered authors on the literary margins. Translations originating in politicized agendas then become constitutive of non-ideological engagements with world literature sanctioning deviations from state hegemony and promoting civilian agendas.

Мирополитические аспекты сохранения культурно-исторического наследия Сирии

The purpose of the paper is to identify the relation-ship between world politics and culture in the con-text of the concept of sustainable development. As an example, the author analyzes the situation in the region of the Arabian East. As a result of conflicts there is the destruction of the world’s histori-cal monuments over the past decades. The author analyzes civilizational transformations in the territo-ry of modern Syria and shows the importance of cultural heritage not only for the Syrian people but also for all humanity. It is concluded that it is neces-sary to unite the world political forces (UN, UNESCO, etc.) to help Syria to solve two problems: ending the war and preservation of historical and cultural herit-age of international importance. Besides, an important conclusion is the role of cultural heritage in modern international relations.

Political Theory of Societal Association: Case of the Failed State of Syria—Part 2

This is the second paper (of four) analyzing the failure of the Syrian state. Four papers have been required because of the complicated sequence of events in the history of Syria: 1) from territory from the Ottoman Empire to European colonial states, 2) to independent states, 3) to a near collapse under a terrorist caliphate, and 4) to refugee impacts on its former colonial occupiers. In this historical sequence, we are testing the validity of the modern theory of political association. In the previous paper of Part 1, we constructed this formal theory as a 3-D taxonomy of political association, which we used to analyze why the state of Syria failed in a vicious civil war (Betz, 2019). The history of modern Syria began at the end of the Ottoman Empire, from which the modern Middle East states were carved. Because of the complex details of the government of Syria after independence, we here review these events as a second paper, Part 2. This paper continues using the methodology of grounding social science theory upon historical studies.

GENEALOGIES OF BAʿTHISM: MICHEL ʿAFLAQ BETWEEN PERSONALISM AND ARABIC NATIONALISM

AbstractThis paper reframes the intellectual genealogy of Baʿthism in modern Syria through a close reading of the writings of one of its founding figures, Michel ʿAflaq. Rereading ʿAflaq's most important texts is part of a broader reconsideration of the intellectual history of modern Syria between nationalism and liberalism, revolution and reaction. While recognizing the traces of nineteenth-century German idealist philosophy and Romantic nationalism in ʿAflaq's thought, this piece complicates the conventional understanding of his work by showing a striking resemblance with the left-personalism of Emmanuel Mounier and theEspritgroup. This unexplored connection constitutes a “missing link” in the intellectual genealogy of Baʿthism. As such, this article contributes to a more expansive and complicated global history of personalism. At the same time, this reconsideration of Michel ʿAflaq suggests a more compelling account of the making of modern Syria, a history with roots more tangled than historians have hitherto imagined.

Filling the gap: Mediterranean amphorae in Late antique Palmyra

Despite a dramatic marginalisation of its political role, post-Zenobian Palmyra continued to be a large urban centre. Its peripheral location far from the main trade routes did not diminish its position as a significant consumption site in late antiquity. An extensive ceramic assemblage from Polish excavations in the north-western town district includes a sizeable group of commercial amphorae for transporting wine and olive oil (LRA 1–7), produced in the Eastern Mediterranean. These vessels, originating from Palestine, the Aegean, and Egypt, the object of extensive inter-regional trade, are a ready source for studies of commercial ties. This article discusses the finds of imported amphorae from Palmyra in an effort to fill in a gap in the distribution maps of late antique Syria. At the same time, the author seeks to present this material in the broader context of the presence of imported amphorae in the territory of modern Syria, this being a departure point for determining Palmyra’s position in the Mediterranean trade of the 5th–7th century ad.

Use of Chemical Warfare Agents in Ancient History. A Case of Persians and Romans in Dura-Europos, Modern Syria in 256 C.E.

Background: Chemical warfare agents (CWA) were most notably used during the First World War in Europe, against Iranians and Kurdish citizens of Iraq at the hands of Saddam Hossein’s regime in 1980s and more recently in Syria. The use of CWA is banned under the international law. Methods: Ancient uses of CWA are not well studied. Recently, their use during the Persian siege of the Roman-held Dura-Europos (Salihiyah) in modern Syria in 256 C.E. has been theorized by revisiting the archaeological findings from Dura-Europos from the 1930s. Case study: The paper describes the history of Persia (Iran) and Rome in that era and particularly Shapur I, the second King (Shah) of the [Sasanian] Persian Empire (215 - 270 C.E.) and Valerian, Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus, the Roman Emperor (193/200 - 264 C.E.). In addition, composition of the potentially applied CWA and clinical findings related to the exposure are postulated through a medical toxicology lens taking into account archeological evidence (carbonized top of the tunnels and bodies and yellow crystals found in the tunnel), recent research and contemporary historical notes. Conclusion: It is plausible that a combination of fire accelerant or so called pitch (oil based substance, naphtha, bitumen or crude oil) and Sulphur dioxide (SO2) were used in this occasion. SO2 in combination with water on the body membranes creates highly toxic sulphurous acid (H2SO3) which is life threatening in a small enclosed space. As a result, a burning sensation in the nasopharynx and eyes, coughing, dyspnea, choking that led to pulmonary edema and death would have shortly followed. Severe clinical manifestations, panic and consequent mass hysteria of the toxic exposure should have prevented any organized retreat. In this incident, nineteen Roman and one Persian soldier were killed.

The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian TragedyWe Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from SyriaSyria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refugee State

The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian TragedyWe Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from SyriaSyria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refugee State

Syrian Kurds and the Kurdish government formation project in 1934

   The Kurds have settled in their homeland, west of Kurdistan, since ancient times. These Kurdish areas, according to travelers who visited them in different covenants, are part of Kurdistan. Syrian Kurds found themselves part of the modern Syria without taking their views and rights, yet they preserved the social fabric of the Syrian people and were promised to be the second national component after Arab nationality. According to British documents and local authorities in Iraq, France, in the early thirties of the twentieth century, worked to establish a Kurdish government in western Kurdistan by some known Kurdish figures. Although these important documents somewhat exaggerated the events by talking about the French desire to support the Kurds in Syria, these documents remain important because they shed light on events that have not been known or highlighted by the British. All in all, the study of the development of establishing a Kurdish government in western Kurdistan is worthy of knowledge and an important indicator on the development of political awareness among the Syrian Kurds during that early stage of their political history. This was remarkable after the Syrian state had become a French mandate at the time.

BASHAR AL ASSAD DAN KELOMPOK OPOSISI (Telaah Terhadap Konflik Suriah Pasca Arab Spring)

Syria is one of the most important country in the Middle East. Political configuration in the Syrian government is highly fluid since a number of international powers have been trying to impose their agenda. Massive social unrest sweeping the whole Middle East, including Syria, has dramatically reshaped the social and political situation of modern Syria in the last decade. This paper, thus, aims at capturing the representation of conflict in Syria in the aftermath of massive social unrest known as arab springs by analyzing the current government of President Bashar al-Assad responses to the attempts of his overthrow by Syrian opposition party as well as by foreign powers. Keywords : Arab Spring, Syrian Conflict, Bashar al-Assad