1st Edition

Power and Paranoia in Syria-Iraq Relations The Impact of Hafez Assad and Saddam Hussain

By Amjed Rasheed Copyright 2023
152 Pages
by Routledge

152 Pages
by Routledge

152 Pages
by Routledge

This book examines the perplexing twists and turns in Syria-Iraq relations which since the establishment of modern Syria and Iraq after World War I have zigzagged between cooperation and hostility countless times. It questions why both countries switched regional and international alliances, but never formed one of their own, and assesses the role played by structural forces such as geopolitics,... Read more

Introduction: The Analytical Framework  Part 1: Age of the Monarchy  1. The Hashemite Monarchy and its Quest to Rule Syria  Part 2: Age of Revolution  2. Post-WWII Pan-Arabism Competition  Part 3: Age of Authoritarians  3. The Iran-Iraq War  4. Kuwait Crisis  Part 4: Age of Denomination  5. The Occupation of Iraq and the Syrian Quest for Survival  6. The Arab Uprisings in Iraq and Syria  Part 5: Conclusion  7. Conclusion

Biography

Amjed Rasheed is a lecturer in the International Relations and Politics of West Asia and North Africa at the School of Politics, Philosophy and Religion (PPR), Lancaster University, UK.

'A fascinating comparison of Saddam Hussein and Hafiz al-Asad, two despotic rulers who impacted not only their respective countries, Iraq and Syria, but the region as a whole. Their legacies are continuing to haunt their countries, and this study allows us to understand the ramifications.'

Joseph Sassoon, Al-Sabah Chair in Politics and Political Economy of the Arab World, Professor and Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), Georgetown University, USA

‘Amjed Rasheed's book usefully updates one of the most fraught and consequential relationships in the Middle East to the present "age of denominations." Plausibly combining considerations of structure and agency, it exposes once again the regime-survival motivations masked by nationalist rhetoric.’

Malik Mufti, Professor of Political Science, Tufts University, USA

'Amjed Rasheed has written a lucid and highly readable account of the vicissitudes of Iraqi-Syrian relations over the decades. Understandably looming large in the story are the figures of Saddam Hussain and Hafez Assad, their insecurities, ambitions and statecraft. But equally important, as this book makes clear, are the permissive environments, domestically and internationally, that gave them agency and that perpetuate their troubling legacies into the present.'

Charles TrippProfessor Emeritus of Politics with reference to the Middle East and North Africa, SOAS, University of London, UK