Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region
حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي – قطر سوريا
Governing bodyCentral Command (from 2018)[1]
Regional SecretaryBashar al-Assad
Hilal Hilal (assistant)[2]
Founded7 April 1947 (1947-04-07)
HeadquartersDamascus, Syria
NewspaperAl-Ba'ath[3] and Al-Thawra[4][5]
Student wingNational Union of Students
Ba'ath Vanguards[6]
Youth wingRevolutionary Youth Union[7]
Paramilitary wingBa'ath Brigades (2012–2018)[8][9]
MembershipSteady 1.2 million (2010 est.)[10]
IdeologyNeo-Ba'athism

Historical:

Political positionFar-left[44]
Popular frontNational Progressive Front[45]
Regional affiliationArab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Colors  Black   White   Green
  Red (Pan-Arab colors)
Slogan"Unity, Freedom, Socialism" "Long Live The Arabs"[46]
Seats in the
People's Council
167 / 250
Seats in the
Council of Ministers
8 / 30
Party flag
Website
www.baathparty.sy

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي – قطر سوريا Ḥizb al-Ba'th al-'Arabī al-Ishtirākī – Quṭr Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Regional Branch (Syria being a "region" of the Arab nation in Ba'ath ideology), is a neo-Ba'athist organisation founded on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party has ruled Syria continuously since the 1963 Syrian coup d'état which brought the Ba'athists to power. It was first the regional branch of the original Ba'ath Party (1947–1966) before it changed its allegiance to the Syrian-dominated Ba'ath movement (1966–present) following the 1966 split within the original Ba'ath Party. Since their ascent to power in 1963, neo-Ba'athist officers proceeded by stamping out the traditional civilian elites to construct a military dictatorship operating in totalitarian[lower-alpha 3] lines; wherein all state agencies, party organisations, public institutions, civil entities, media and health infrastructure are tightly dominated by the army establishment and the Mukhabarat (intelligence services).

The 1966 coup d'état by the radical left-wing faction of Salah Jadid and General Hafez al-Assad ousted the Old Guard of Ba'ath leadership consisting of Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din Bitar; and dissolved the National Command of the united Ba'ath party. The leftist faction of the Syrian Baath advanced a strictly socialist economic programme, pursued closer alliance with the Syrian communists, "progressive" Arab states and the Soviet Bloc and prioritised the spread of socialist revolution in the neighbouring "reactionary" Arab states over pan-Arab unity. The official ideology preached by the Syrian Ba'ath is known as neo-Ba'athism, a school of Ba'athist thought that denounces Aflaq and Bitar and eulogizes Alawite philosopher Zaki al-Arsuzi as the leading theoretician. In another coup in 1970, officially dubbed the "Corrective Movement", Hafez al-Assad would overthrow the Jadid faction and tone down the revolutionary measures. The new regime emphasized building socialism in Syria first and was open to alliances with the neighbouring countries. Since this period, the party has adopted Assadism as its official ideology; promoting a personality cult centred around the Assad dynasty.

History

Founding and early years: 1947–1963

Akram al-Hawrani (left) with Michel Aflaq as seen in 1957

The Ba'ath Party, and indirectly the Syrian Regional Branch, was established on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq (a Christian), Salah al-Din al-Bitar (a Sunni Muslim) and Zaki al-Arsuzi (an Alawite).[47] According to the congress, the party was "nationalist, populist, socialist, and revolutionary" and believed in the "unity and freedom of the Arab nation within its homeland."[48] The party opposed the theory of class conflict, but supported the nationalisation of major industries, the unionisation of workers, land reform, and supported private inheritance and private property rights to some degree.[48] The party merged with the Arab Socialist Party (ASP), led by Akram al-Hawrani, to establish the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Lebanon following Adib Shishakli's rise to power.[49] Most ASP members did not adhere to the merger and remained, according to George Alan, "passionately loyal to Hawrani's person."[50] The merger was weak, and a lot of the ASP's original infrastructure remained intact.[50] In 1955, the party decided to support Gamal Nasser and what they perceived as his pan-Arabic policies.[50]

Syrian politics took a dramatic turn in 1954 when the military government of Adib al-Shishakli was overthrown and the democratic system restored.[51] The Ba'ath, now a large and popular organisation, won 22 out of 142 parliamentary seats in the Syrian election that year, becoming the second-largest party in parliament.[51] The Ba'ath Party was supported by the intelligentsia because of their pro-Egyptian and anti-imperialist stance and their support for social reform.[52]

The assassination of Ba'athist colonel Adnan al-Malki by a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) in April 1955 allowed the Ba'ath Party and its allies to launch a crackdown, thus eliminating one rival.[53] In 1957, the Ba'ath Party partnered with the Syrian Communist Party (SCP) to weaken the power of Syria's conservative parties.[53] By the end of that year, the SCP weakened the Ba'ath Party to such an extent that in December the Ba'ath Party drafted a bill calling for a union with Egypt, a move that was very popular.[53] The union between Egypt and Syria went ahead and the United Arab Republic (UAR) was created, and the Ba'ath Party was banned in the UAR because of Nasser's hostility to parties other than his own.[53] The Ba'ath leadership dissolved the party in 1958, gambling that the legalisation against certain parties would hurt the SCP more than it would the Ba'ath.[53] A military coup in Damascus in 1961 brought the UAR to an end.[54] Sixteen prominent politicians, including al-Hawrani and Salah al-Din al-Bitar – who later retracted his signature, signed a statement supporting the coup.[55] The Ba'athists won several seats during the 1961 parliamentary election.[54]

Coup of 1963

Military Committee members Salim Hatum (left), Muhammad Umran (center) and Salah Jadid (right) celebrating after the 1963 coup d'état

The military group preparing for the overthrow of the separatist regime in February 1963 was composed of independent Nasserite and other unionist, including Ba'thi officers.[56] The re-emergence of the Ba'tha's a majority political force aided in the coup; without a political majority the coup would have remained a military take over .[56] Ziyad al-Hariri controlled the sizable forces stationed at the Israeli Front, not far from Damascus, Muhammad as-Sufi commanded the key brigade stationes in Homs, and Ghassan Haddad, one of Hariri's independent partners, commanded the Desert Forces.[57] Early in March it was decided the coup would be brought into action March ninth. But on March fifth several of the officers wanted to delay the coup in hope of staging a bloodless coup .[57] It was presumed that the Nasserite were preparing a coup of their own which effectively canceled the delay.[57] The coup began at night and by the morning of March eighth it was evident that a new political era had begun in Syria. [58]

Ruling party: 1963 onwards

Photograph of a meeting of Senior leadership of the Baath Party in 1969 / From left to right: Interior Minister Mohammad Rabah al-Tawil, Chief of Staff General Mustafa Tlass, Commander of the Golan Front Ahmad al-Meer, and the Syrian strongman Salah Jadid

The secession from the UAR was a time of crisis for the party; several groups, including Hawrani, left the Ba'ath Party.[59] In 1962, Aflaq convened a congress which re-established the Syrian Regional Branch.[60] The division in the original Ba'ath Party between the National Command led by Michel Aflaq and the "regionalists" in the Syrian Regional Branch stemmed from the break-up of the UAR.[61] Aflaq had sought to control the regionalist elements – an incoherent grouping led by Fa'iz al-Jasim, Yusuf Zuayyin, Munir al-Abdallah and Ibrahim Makhus.[61] Aflaq retained the support of the majority of the non-Syrian National Command members (13 at the time).[62]

Following the success of the February 1963 coup d'état in Iraq, led by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi Regional Branch, the Military Committee hastily convened to plan a coup against Nazim al-Kudsi's presidency.[63] The coup – dubbed the 8th of March Revolution – was successful and a Ba'athist government was installed in Syria.[63] The plotters' first order was to establish the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), which consisted entirely of Ba'athists and Nasserists, and was controlled by military personnel rather than civilians.[64] However, in its first years in power, the Syrian Regional Branch experienced an internal power struggle between traditional Ba'athists, radical socialists and the members of the Military Committee.[65] The Nasserist and Muslim Brotherhood opposition joined forces to raise the spectre of communist takeover of Syria during the 1960s. They attacked the Baath party as being anti-Sunni and condemned the state secularism of the regime as being anti-religious and atheist. Nasser himself proscribed the Syrian Baath for its militant secularism and the radical Marxist proposals of its leaders.[66][67] The first period of Ba'ath rule was put to an end with the 1966 Syrian coup d'état, which overthrew the traditional Ba'athists led by Aflaq and Bitar and brought Salah Jadid, the head of the Military Committee, to power (though not formally).[68]

Photo of Syrian military general Hafez al-Assad during the 1970 coup

1970 Coup

After the 1967 Six-Day War, tensions between Jadid and Hafez al-Assad increased, and al-Assad and his associates were strengthened by their hold on the military. In late 1968,[69] they began dismantling Jadid's support network, facing ineffectual resistance from the civilian branch of the party that remained under Jadid's control.[70] This duality of power persisted until the Corrective Revolution of November 1970, when al-Assad ousted and imprisoned Atassi and Jadid.[71] He then set upon a project of rapid institution-building, reopened parliament and adopted a permanent constitution for the country, which had been ruled by military fiat and a provisional constitutional documents since 1963.[71] Assad significantly modified his predecessor's radical socialist economic policies, encouraged several wealthy urban families to increase their activities in the private sector, and allowed limited foreign investment from Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region States.[72]

Reign of the Assads (1970s – present)

Hafez al-Assad (1970–2000)

Meeting of Hafez Al-Assad and then Iranian president Ali Khamenei in Damascus, September 6, 1984. During 1980s, as the grip of his Alawite loyalists in the Baath party tightened, Assad pursued close alliance with the Shi'ite theocracy of Iran.[73]

Hafez Al-Assad's reign was marked by the virtual abandonment of Pan-Arab ideology; replacing it with the doctrine of socialist transformation and giving overriding priority in constructing socialist society within Syria. Political participation was limited to the National Progressive Front, the ruling coalition of Syrian Baath and Marxist–Leninist parties; entrenching itself firmly within the Soviet Bloc. The Party also began building a personality cult around Assad and brought the elite of the armed forces under Assad's grip and the officer corps were installed with Alawite loyalists; further alienating the Sunni majority from the party.[74]

Soviet Military Presence in Syria and Lebanon, December 1986

By the late 1970s, the state apparatus of the Baath regime under Assad had consolidated into an anti-Sunni orientation. Official propaganda incited Alawite farmers against rich Sunni landowners and regularly disseminated stereotypes of Sunni merchants and industrialists, casting them as enemies of nationalisation and socialist revolution. Bitterness towards the Assadist regime and the Alawite elite in the Baath and armed forces became widespread amongst the Sunni majority, laying the beginnings of an Islamic resistance. Prominent leaders of Muslim Brotherhood like Issam al-Attar were imprisoned and exiled. A coalition of the traditional Syrian Sunni ulema, Muslim Brotherhood revolutionaries and Islamist activists formed the Syrian Islamic Front in 1980 with objective of overthrowing Assad through Jihad and establishing an Islamic state. In the same year, Hafez officially supported Iran in its war with Iraq and controversially began importing Iranian fighters and terror groups into Lebanon and Syria. This led to rising social tensions within the country which eventually became a full-fledged rebellion in 1982; led by the Islamic Front. The regime responded by slaughtering the Sunni inhabitants in Hama and Aleppo and bombarding numerous mosques, killing around 20,000-40,000 civilians. The uprising was brutally crushed and Assad regarded the Muslim Brethren as demolished.[75]

Syria under Hafez al-Assad was a staunch Soviet ally and firmly aligned itself with Soviet Bloc during the height of the Cold War. Soviet Union saw Syria as the lynchpin of its Middle-East strategy and signed the Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation in 1980; directly committing itself to Syria's defense and incorporating the Syrian armed forces into Soviet standards. For his part, Hafez committed himself to socialist economic and foreign policies; and was one of the few autocrats to openly support the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union dealt a deep blow to Assad, who retained the nostalgia for the old order.[76][77] Assad continued to rule Syria until his death in 2000, by centralizing powers in the state presidency.[78]

Bashar al-Assad (2000 – present)

Bashar al-Assad, the Secretary-General of the Syrian Regional Branch and state president

Hafez's son, Bashar al-Assad succeeded him in office as President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Branch on 17 July[79] and 24 June respectively.[80] State propaganda portrayed the new president as the symbol of "modernity, youth, and openness".[81] At the beginning, Bashar al-Assad's rule was met with high expectations, with many foreign commentators believing he would introduce reforms reminiscent of the Chinese economic reforms or the perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev.[82][83][84] A brief period of political and cultural opening known as Damascus Spring was stamped out during 2001-2002, when numerous intellectuals, activists and dissidents, were arrested or exiled, under the guise of "national unity". Image of Assad as a moderniser also vanished; when economic measures resulted in the concentration of wealth under loyalist oligarchs, heightened systematic corruption and increased poverty levels amongst the urban middle classes and villagers.[81][85]

Vladimir Putin (centre), sitting alongside Bashar al-Assad (right) and Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu (left), hearing military reports during his visit to the command post of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria.

Bashar al-Assad's rule was believed to be stable until the Arab Spring took place; the revolutions occurring in other parts of the Arab world acted as an inspiration for the Syrian opposition, leading to the 2011 Syrian revolution which escalated into a civil war.[86] The Syrian Regional Branch has demonstrated absolute loyalty to Bashar al-Assad in its entirety throughout the civil war, from organising counter-demonstrations to forming paramilitary units focused on violently crushing peaceful demonstrators of the Syrian Revolution.[87] It is generally believed that the plays a minor role in the conflict, having been reduced to a mass organization, and real decision-making taking place either in the military, the al-Assad family or Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.[86] Despite this, the party remained loyal to the government almost in its entirety throughout the civil war, probably out of concerns that the overthrow of the al-Assad family's rule would result in its own demise as well. Several militias were formed by Ba'ath Party volunteers to fight against insurgents,[88] with the most notable being the Ba'ath Brigades.[89] The civil war also resulted in a referendum on a new constitution on 26 February 2012.[90] The constitution was approved by the populace, and the article stating that Ba'ath Party was "the leading party of society and state" was removed[91] and the constitution was ratified on 27 February.[92]

Another aspect of Assad's tenure was the restoration of close alliance with Russia, the successor state of former Soviet Union. As protests erupted in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring and later proiliferated into a Civil War; Russia became the sole member to safeguard Assad in the UN Security Council. In September 2015; Vladimir Putin ordered a direct Russian military operation in Syria on behalf of Assad; providing the regime with training, volunteers, supplies and weaponry; and has since engaged in extensive aerial bombardment campaigns throughout the country targeting anti-Assad rebels.[93]

Since 2018, the government has launched an extensive Ba'athification campaign in its territories, amalgamating the state-party nexus and further entrenched its one-party rule. During the 2018 local elections and 2020 parliamentary elections, more hardline Ba'athist loyalists were appointed to commanding roles; and other satellite parties in the National Progressive Front have been curtailed. Ba'athist candidates are fielded uncontested in many regions. The party itself was structurally overhauled, re-invigorating neo-Ba'athist ideology in organizational levels, and cadres accused of lacking ideological dedication were purged. The party portrays itself as the vanguard of Syrian nation and has tightened its monopoly on youth organisations, student activism, trade unions, agricultural organisations and other civil society groups.[87][94][95]

Organization

General Congress

The General Congress is supposed to be held every fourth year to elect members of the Central Command. Since 1980, its functions have been eclipsed by the Central Committee, which was empowered to elect the Central Command. By 1985's 8th Regional Congress, the Command Secretary was empowered to elect the Central Committee.[96] The 8th Regional Congress would be the last congress held under Hafez al-Assad's rule.[97] The next Regional Congress was held in June 2000 and elected Bashar al-Assad as Command Secretary and elected him as a candidate for the next presidential election.[98]

Delegates to the General Congress are elected beforehand by the Central Command leadership. While all delegates come from the party's local organisation, they are forced to elect members presented by the leadership. However, some criticism is allowed. At the 8th Regional Congress, several delegates openly criticised the growing political corruption and the economic stagnation in Syria. They could also discuss important problems to the Central Command, which in turn could deal with them.[99]

Central Command

The Central Command is according to the Syrian Constitution has the power to nominate a candidate for president.[100] While the constitution does not state that the Secretary of the Central Command is the President of Syria, the charter of the National Progressive Front (NPF), of which the Ba'ath Party is a member, states that the President and the Central Command Secretary is the NPF President, but this is not stated in any legal document.[100] The 1st Extraordinary Regional Congress held in 1964 decided that the Secretary of the Central Command would also be head of state.[101] The Central Command is officially responsible to the General Congress.[102]

Central Committee

The Central Committee (Arabic: Al-Lajna Al-Markaziyya), established in January 1980, is subordinate to the Central Command. It was established as a conduit for communication between the Ba'ath Party leadership and local party organs. At the 8th Regional Congress held in 1985, membership size increased from 75 to 95. Other changes was that its powers were enhanced; in theory,[103] the Central Command became responsible to the Central Committee, the hitch was that the Central Command Secretary elected the members of the Central Committee.[96] Another change was that the Central Committee was given the responsibilities of the Regional Congress when the congress was not in session.[103] As with the Central Command, the Central Committee is in theory supposed to be elected every fourth year by the Regional Congress, but from 1985 until Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, no Regional Congress was held.[99]

Central-level organs

Military Bureau

The Military Bureau, which succeeded the Military Committee,[104] oversees the Syrian armed forces. Shortly after the 8 March Revolution, the Military Committee became the supreme authority in military affairs.[105] The party has a parallel structure within the Syrian armed forces. The military and civilian sectors only meet at the regional level, as the military sector is represented in the Central Command and sends delegates to general congresses. The military sector is divided into branches, which operate at the battalion level. The head of a military party branch is called a tawjihi, or guide.[103]

In 1963, the Military Committee established the Military Organisation, which consisted of 12 branches resembling their civilian counterparts. The Military Organisation was led by a Central Committee, which represented the Military Committee. These new institutions were established to stop the civilian faction meddling in the affairs of the Military Committee. The Military Organisation met with the other branches through the Military Committee, which was represented at the Regional and National Congresses and Commands. The Military Organisation was a very secretive body. Members were sworn not to divulge any information about the organisation to officers who were not members in order to strengthen the Military Committee's hold on the military. In June 1964, it was decided that no new members would be admitted to the organisation. The Military Committee was built on a democratic framework, and a Military Organization Congress was held to elect the members of the Military Committee. Only one congress was ever held.[106]

The lack of a democratic framework led to internal divisions within the Military Organisation among the rank-and-file.[107] Tension within the organisation increased, and became apparent when Muhammad Umran was dismissed from the Military Committee. Some rank-and-file members presented a petition to the Regional Congress which called for the democratisation of the Military Organisation. The National Command, represented by Munif al-Razzaz, did not realise the importance of this petition before Salah Jadid suppressed it. The Military Committee decided to reform, and the Regional Congress passed a resolution which made the Military Organisation responsible to the Military Bureau of the Central Command, which was only responsible for military affairs.[108]

Central Party School

Ali Diab is the current head of the Ba'ath Party's Central Party School.[109]

Lower-level organizations

The party has 19 branches in Syria: one in each of the thirteen provinces, one in Damascus, one in Aleppo and one at each of the country's four universities. In most cases the governor of a province, police chief, mayor and other local dignitaries comprise the Branch Command. The Branch Command Secretary and other executive positions are filled by full-time party employees.[103]

Members

Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, the two principal fathers of Ba'athist thought, saw the Ba'ath Party as a vanguard party, comparable to the Soviet Union's Communist Party, while Al-Assad saw it as a mass organisation. In 1970 he stated, "After this day the Ba'ath will not be the party of the elect, as some has envisaged ... Syria does not belong to the Ba'athists alone."[110]

Since 1970, membership of the Ba'ath Party in Syria expanded dramatically. In 1971, the party had 65,938 members; ten years later it stood at 374,332 and by mid-1992 it was 1,008,243. By mid-1992, over 14 percent of Syrians aged over 14 were members of the party. In 2003, the party membership stood at 1.8 million people, which is 18 percent of the population.[110] The increase in membership was not smooth. In 1985 a party organisational report stated that thousand of members had been expelled before the 7th Regional Congress held in 1980 because of indiscipline. The report also mentioned the increased tendency of opportunism among party members.[110] Between 1980 and 1984, 133,850 supporter-members and 3,242 full members were expelled from the party.[111]

The increase in members has led official propaganda, and leading members of the party and state, to say that the people and the party are inseparable. Michel Kilo, a Syrian Christian dissident and human rights activist, said, "The Ba'ath does not recognize society. It consider itself [to be] society."[111] This idea led to Ba'athist slogans and tenets being included in the Syrian constitution. In 1979, the Ba'ath Party's position was further strengthened when dual party membership became a criminal offence.[112]

Ideology

The original Ba'ath headed by Michael Aflaq had viewed Islam as a unique religion that shaped Arab history and society and called for the incoporation of pan-Arabism with Islamic religious values. On other hand; the younger Neo-Ba'athists who came from minority communities like Alawites were highly influenced by communist ideals and incorporated Marxist anti-religious, economic ideas and downplayed efforts for pan-Arab unity. The Neo-Ba'athist faction that took official control of Syria following the 1966 coup were advocates of militant revolution, calling for immediate socialist transformation of society. The Soviet Union began supporting the group for its leftist programme and denounced its rival Iraqi Ba'ath as "reactionary" and "right-wing". The early years of neo-Ba'ath power was marked by militarism along with increasing sectarianism in the army and party elites. State propaganda regularly attacked religion and belief in God and young students were given compulsory military training. Big businesses, banks and large agricultural lands were all nationalised. These policies brought the Syrian Ba'athists into conflict with Arab nationalist ideologies like Nasserism, which was accused of betraying socialist ideals. Nasser, in turn, charged the Ba'ath with anti-religion and sectarianism.[113][114]

Neo-Ba'athism advocates the creation of a "vanguard" of leftist revolutionaries committed to build an egalitarian, socialist state in Syria and other Arab countries before making steps to achieve pan-Arab unity. The vanguard organisation is the Ba'th party; which advocates class-struggle against the traditional Syrian economic elite classes; the big agriculturalists, industrialists, bourgeousie and feudal landlords. By the 1970s, 85% of agricultural lands were distributed to landless peasant populations and tenant farmers. Banks, oil companies, power production and 90% of large-scale industries were nationalised. The neo-Ba'athists led by Salah Jadid who came to power in 1966 concentrated on improving the Syrian economy and exporting the doctrines of class-conflict and militant socialist revolution to the neighbouring countries. This view was challenged by General Hafez al-Assad and his neo-Ba'ath faction; who were proponents of a military-centric approach and focused on a strategy of strengthening the Syrian military to defend the socialist government against imperialist forces and their alleged internal collaborators. Assad favoured reconciliation of various leftist factions and pursued better relations with other Arab states. Although majority of the party members favoured Salah, Hafez was able to gain the upperhand following the events of the 1970 coup dubbed the "Corrective Movement" in official Syrian Ba'ath history. Assad's victory also marked the supersedure of the military over the Ba'ath party structures; making the armed forces a central centre of political power.[115][116][117][118]

Assadism

Statue of Hafez al-Assad in Qamishli

Since the end of the Cold War and fall of the Soviet Bloc in the 1990s, the official ideological paradigm of the Ba'athist dogma in Syria has been described as foundering. Despite decades of one-party rule that has lasted longer than the period of independent Syria (1946-1963); Ba'athist ideology itself has not gained popular legitimacy. The role of the party has become supplanted with the cult of personality surrounding the Assad dynasty and a consolidation of communal-based allegiances. Assad's government was a personalist system and his wisdom was portrayed as "beyond the comprehension of the average citizen". Assad deepened the Alawitization of the party and the military; reduced the role of the civilian wing of party and based his state governance structure on loyalty to the leader's family.[119][120] State biography of Hafiz al-Assad describes this philosophy as "Asadiyah (Assadism)" defining it as:

"the New Ba'th led by Hafiz al‑Asad, representing a new distinctive current in Syria which has been developed by him; it is a school of thought which has benefited from Nasserism, but has surpassed it, just as it has surpassed the traditional Ba'thist school, albeit that it does not contradict either of these schools of thought but has further developed them in line with contemporary needs."[121]

Banners of Bashar al-Assad hanging over the back side of a roman-era citadel

Assad personality cult is portrayed as integral to the prosperity and security of the nation; with Hafez al-Assad being depicted as the father figure of the Syrian nation. Ceremonies and slogans of loyalty, praise and adulation of Assads are a daily party of schools, party centres, government offices, public spaces and the military. Official state propaganda attributes Assad with supernatural abilities combined by repetitive usage of symbolism that discouraged wider society from arenas for political activism. Upon the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his successor Bashar al-Assad was depicted as a reformist and youthful hope. Hafez's inner circle elite was replaced by a far more restricted faction of elites closer to Bashar, often referred to as the "New Guard". Major posts in the armed forces were awarded to Alawite loyalists, family relatives and many non-Alawite elites that served under Hafez were expelled. Another important shift was the end of Ba'th party's practical significance; with it being reduced to a formal structure for affirming fealty to Bashar and support his revamped crackdowns on the newly established independent civil society groups, political activists and reformist voices that arose during the Damascus Spring in the 2000s.[122][123][124][125]

Describing the nature of Assadist ideological propaganda in her work Ambiguities of Domination, Professor of political science Lisa Wedeen writes:

"Asad's cult is a strategy of domination based on compliance rather than legitimacy. The regime produces compliance through enforced participation in rituals of obeisance that are transparently phony both to those who orchestrate them and to those who consume them. Asad's cult operates as a disciplinary device, generating a politics of public dissimulation in which citizens act as if they revere their leader.. It produces guidelines for acceptable; it defines and generalizes a specific type of national membership; it occasions the enforcement of obedience; it induces complicity by creating practices in which citizens are themselves "accomplices," upholding the norms constitutive of Asad's domination; it isolates Syrians from one another; and it clutters public space with monotonous slogans and empty gestures, which tire the minds and bodies of producers and consumers alike... Asad is powerful because his regime can compel people to say the ridiculous and to avow the absurd."[126][125]

Religion

Neo-Ba'athism holds religion as the "foremost symbol of reaction" preventing the birth of a modern socialist society, and advocate strict state supervision over religious activities for sustaining what its ideologues regard as a healthy, secularist society. During Salah Jadid's reign in power, the Ba'ath postured itself as a strongly anti-religious political entity; adhering to the Marxist–Leninist approach of top-down rationalisation of society by liquidation of what it regarded as "reactionary" classes such as the traditional ulema. The Grand Mufti's official status would be downgraded and the conventional role of religious clergy in state functioning was curtailed. While state ministers, officials, educators, etc. regularly preached about the "perils of religion"; party periodicals and magazines during the 1960s regularly made predictions about the "impending demise" of religion through the socialist revolution.[127] In an article published by the Syrian army magazine in 1967, party ideologue Ibrahim Khalas declared:

"The New Man believes that God, religions, feudalism, capitalism, imperialism and all the values that govern the ancient society are mummies that are just worth being put away in the museum of History... We don’t need a man who prays and kneels, who bows his head with baseness and begs God for pity and mercy. The New Man is a socialist, a revolutionary."[128]

Anti-religious Ba'athist writings on the walls of Hama city following the Hama Massacre in 1982. The propaganda slogan, which translates to "There is no god but the homeland, and there is no messenger but the Ba'ath party", denigrated the Shahada (Islamic testimony of faith)

Following popular revulsion at Jadid's blatant anti-religious policies, Hafez al-Assad began to moderate the secularisation programme during the 1970s, by co-opting some pro-government clerics like Ramadan al-Bouti to counter the Islamic opposition and granted them a degree of autonomy from the regime. Simultaneously, the regime began the "nationalisation" of religious discourse through a loyal clerical network, and condemned anyone deviating from the state-promoted "Ba'thist version of Islam" as a threat to the society.[129]

The era of d'tente with the religious establishment came to an end in 2008, when Bashar al-Assad appointed Muhammad al-Sayyid as Chief of the Ministry of Awqaf, which marked an era of harsh regulations in the religious landscape. Numerous private religious educational institutes, religious charities, independent preaching organisations, female religious centres, etc. were forcibly shut down as part of the new secularisation drive. The state also tightened its grip over the official religious institutions and dissident Islamic voices were imprisoned, leading to open rift with the ulema. Private religious institutes were allowed donations only after official permission from the Ministry of Awqaf, which also controlled the expenditures. The state was also entrusted with a broad range of powers including the hiring and firing of its instructors as well as the standardisation of their religious curriculum with the official "Ba'thist Islam", effectively nationalising the private religious institutes. In 2009, Ba'ath party activists launched ideological campaigns against the Niqab (Islamic face veils) and alleged "extremist trends" in the society, which was complemented by the regime's revamped clampdown on religious activists, independent religious scholars and private schools. Popular display of religious symbols of all sects was banned in 2010 and officials close to the ulema were suspended, under the pretext of preserving the "secular character" of the country. The regime also implemented nation-wide ban on the Niqab (face-covering) and imposed restrictions on female Islamic organisations like the Al-Qubaisiat, which ignited a region-wide controversy. By the onset of Arab Spring in late 2010, relationship between the ulema and the Assad regime had sunk to its lowest level, with even staunch Assad-loyalists like the Grand Mufti Ramadan al-Bouti expressing public discontent.[130]

With the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, regime's crackdown on religious dissidents have increased, particularly those of Sunni background over accusations of sympathies with rebel groups. In November 2021, Assad banished the office of Grand Mufti of Syria.[131][132][133] Describing Assadism as an alternative quasi-religion for mobilising the fealty and adulation of Syrian citizens, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Bonn International Centre Dr. Esther Meininghaus writes:

"by drawing on religion, the Assad regime successfully sought to promote a value system ultimately rooted in the Baʿthist vision for Syrian society.. To this, we can indeed add the cult surrounding Presidents Hafiz and Bashar al-Asad, whose pictures are displayed not only in public buildings and schools but taxis and shops, or ceremonies such as mass parades and/or the playing of the national anthem during official celebrations. Also, official rhetoric has become increasingly infused with transcendental and metaphysical elements, in particular with regard to the President’s personality cult. For instance, the President is addressed as the ‘Eternal Leader’ who will guide his people to becoming the ‘true’ Arab nation. The recent slogan of ‘Bashar, Allah, Suriyya wa-bas’ (Bashar, God, and Syria – that’s it) possibly best epitomises how close the regime has come to creating a Syrian public religion in its own right. Whether the outward performance of ‘regime rituals’ was actually fully internalised or secretly mocked, it had to be practised and obeyed."[134]

Status

According to Subhi Hadidi, a Syrian dissident, "The Ba'ath is in complete disarray. ... It's like a dead body. It's no longer a party in any normal sense of the word."[135] Hanna Batatu wrote, "Under Assad the character of the Ba'ath changed ... Whatever independence of opinion its members enjoyed in the past was now curtailed, a premium being placed on conformity and internal discipline. The party became in effect another instrument by which the regime sought to control the community at large or to rally it behind its policies. The party's cadres turned more and more into bureaucrats and careerists, and were no longer vibrantly alive ideologically as in the 1950s and 1960s, unconditional fidelity to Assad having ultimately overridden fidelity to old beliefs."[136]

According to Volker Perthes, the Ba'ath Party was transformed under Assad; Perthes wrote, "It was further inflated such as to neutralise those who had supported the overthrown leftist leadership, it was de-ideologised; and it was restructured so as to fit into the authoritarian format of Assad's system, lose its avant-garde character and became an instrument for generating mass support and political control. It was also to become the regime's main patronage network."[104]

A defaced Ba'athist mural at the Mihrab roundabout in Idlib, shortly after the city's capture by rebel forces in March 2015

The Ba'ath Party was turned into a patronage network closely intertwined with the bureaucracy, and soon became virtually indistinguishable from the state, while membership rules were liberalized. In 1987, the party had 50,000 members in Syria, with another 200,000 candidate members on probation.[137] The party lost its independence from the state and was turned into a tool of the Assad government, which remained based essentially in the security forces. Other parties that accepted the basic orientation of the government were permitted to operate again. The National Progressive Front was established in 1972 as a coalition of these legal parties, which were only permitted to act as junior partners to the Ba'ath, with very little room for independent organisation.[138]

Despite its social and political subservience to Assadism, the Ba'ath party apparatus and its working establishments are crucial components in daily governance. The party facilitates Assad family's tight control over the state, serves to organize supporters and mobilize mass-rallies for social legitimacy. Despite affirmation of multiple parties in the 2012 constitution; no real opposition is allowed to operate in practice. All candidates to the People's Assembly and local councils are from the National Progressive Front (NPF), a Ba'athist-led alliance firmly committed to the government. After 2018, the Ba'ath party expanded its political dominance and fielded more candidates in regional and national electoral processes, at the expense of other parties in the NPF. Internally, the party is strictly monitored by the High Command and regional Ba'athist leaders suspected of insufficient loyalty are expelled as "grey members" (al-Ramadiyyin).[139][140]

As of 2022, the Ba'athists continue to dominate the regional councils, civil services, parliament, army and Mukhabarat. Vast majority of legalized trade unions, students associations also belong to the Ba'ath party. More than a third of government employees in rural regions are Baath members; whereas in urban areas about half the officers are Baathists. Baath party institutions remain vital to establish bureaucratic functioning in the government controlled regions. Other parties of the National Progressive Front are minority in size.[141]

Anthem

Arabic script Arabic transliteration English translation

يا شباب العرب هيا وانطلق يا موكبي
وارفع الصوت قوياً عاش بعث العـرب
يا شباب العرب هيا وانطلق يا موكبي
وارفع الصوت قوياً عاش بعث العـرب

نحن فلاح وعامل وشباب لا يلين
نحن جندي مقاتل نحن صوت الكادحين
من جذور الأرض جئنا من صميم الألم
بالضحايا ما بخلنا بالعطاء الأكرم

يا شباب العرب هيا وانطلق يا موكبي
وارفع الصوت قوياً عاش بعث العـرب

خندق الثوار واحد أو يقال الظلم زال
صامد يا بعـث صامد أنت في ساح النضال
وحد الأحـرار هيا وحد الشعب العظـيم
وامض يا بعث قوياً للغد الحر الكريم

يا شباب العرب هيا وانطلق يا موكبي
وارفع الصوت قوياً عاش بعث العـرب

ya šabāba-l'arbi hayyā wanṭaliq yā mawkibī
warfa'i-ṣṣawta qawiyān 'aša Ba'athu-l'arabi
ya šabāba-l'arbi hayyā wanṭaliq yā mawkibī
warfa'i-ṣṣawta qawiyān 'aša Ba'athu-l'arabi

naḥnu fallaḥu wa'āmil washabābu-lla yalīn
naḥnu jundi yun muqātil naḥnu sawtu-lkādaḥin
min juðūri-l'Arḍi ji.nā min samimi-l-alami
bī-ḍḍaḥāyā mā bakhilnā bi-l'aṭā il'akrami

ya šabāba-l'arbi hayyā wanṭaliq yā mawkibī
warfa'i-ṣṣawta qawiyān 'aša Ba'athu-l'arabi

khandaqu-ththuwwāri wāḥid .aw yuqāla-ẓẓulmu zāl
ṣāmidun ya Ba'athu ṣāmid .anta fī sāḥi-nniḍāl
waḥidi-l.aḥrara hayyā waḥidi-shsha'aba-l'aẓīm
wāmḍi yā Ba'athu qawiyyān lilġadi-lḥurri-lkarīm

ya šabāba-l'arbi hayyā wanṭaliq yā mawkibī
warfa'i-ṣṣawta qawiyān 'aša Ba'athu-l'arabi

Arab youth, raise and march to fight your enemies,
Raise your voice: "Long live the Arab Ba'ath!"
Arab youth, raise and march to fight your enemies,
Raise your voice: "Long live the Arab Ba'ath!"

We are farmers, workers and persistent youth,
We are soldiers, we are the voice of labourers,
We came from roots of this land and pain from hearts,
We weren't misers in giving sacrifice nobly.

Arab youth, raise and march to fight your enemies,
Raise your voice: "Long live the Arab Ba'ath!"

All revolutionaries into the trenches, there's still injustice,
The Ba'ath will never surrender and stop struggling.
Go Ba'ath. Unite all revolutionaries, unite all great people,
Go strong for tomorrow in freedom and dignity.

Arab youth, raise and march to fight your enemies,
Raise your voice: "Long live the Arab Ba'ath!"

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Votes % Result
1971 Hafez al-Assad 1,919,609 99.2% Elected Green tick
1978 3,975,729 99.9% Elected Green tick
1985 6,200,428 100% Elected Green tick
1991 6,726,843 99.99% Elected Green tick
1999 8,960,011 100% Elected Green tick
2000 Bashar al-Assad 8,689,871 99.7% Elected Green tick
2007 11,199,445 99.82% Elected Green tick
2014 10,319,723 88.7% Elected Green tick
2021 13,540,860 95.1% Elected Green tick

Syrian People's Assembly elections

Election Party leader Seats +/–
1949
1 / 114
 Increase 1
1953
0 / 82
 Decrease 1
1954 Akram al-Hawrani
22 / 140
 Increase 22
1961 Nureddin al-Atassi
20 / 140
 Decrease 2
1973 Hafez al-Assad
122 / 250
 Increase 102
1977
125 / 250
 Increase 3
1981
127 / 250
 Increase 2
1986
130 / 250
 Increase 3
1990
134 / 250
 Increase 4
1994
135 / 250
 Increase 1
1998
135 / 250
 Steady
2003 Bashar al-Assad
167 / 250
 Increase 32
2007
169 / 250
 Increase 2
2012
168 / 250
 Decrease 1
2016
172 / 250
 Increase 4
2020
167 / 250
 Decrease 5

References

  1. ↑ Federal Research Division (2004). Syria: A Country Study. Kessinger Publishing. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-4191-5022-7.
  2. ↑ "Syria Comment". Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  3. ↑ David Commins; David W. Lesch (2013). Historical Dictionary of Syria. Scarecrow Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-8108-7966-9.
  4. ↑ "Syria". Arab Press Network. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscillia Mary (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-1-85109-841-5.
  6. ↑ "Syria's Conflicting Powers Develop Separate Education Curriculums". Atlantic Council. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  7. ↑ أحدث أخبار وفعاليات منظمة اتحاد شبيبة الثورة (The latest news and events of the Revolutionary Youth Union).
  8. ↑ Edward Dark (14 March 2014). "Pro-regime Sunni fighters in Aleppo defy sectarian narrative". Al Monitor. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Source: The "Tiger" Cancels the Contracts of 6500 of Its Troops throughout Syria". Enab Baladi. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Profile: Syria's ruling Baath Party". BBC. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2019. Many posts in the public sector, the military and government were generally reserved for Baathists, which helped boost party membership. By 1981, some 375,000 people had joined the party. By 2010, this number had reportedly risen to 1.2 million - nearly 10% of the population.
  11. ↑ Korany, Baghat; Dessouki, Ali (2010). The Foreign Policies of Arab States: The Challenge of Globalization. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 423–424. ISBN 978-977-416-360-9.
  12. ↑ Viorst, Milton (1995). Sandcastles: The Arabs in Search of the Modern World. Syracuse University Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0224033237.
  13. ↑ Meininghaus, Esther (2016). "Introduction". Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. I. B. Tauris. pp. 1–33. ISBN 978-1-78453-115-7.
  14. ↑ M. Choueiri, Youssef; M. Moghadem, Valentine (2008). "22: Modernizing Women in the Middle East". A Companion to the History of the Middle East. West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell. p. 427. ISBN 978-1-4051-8379-6.
  15. ↑ K. Wilber, P. Jameson, Charles, Kenneth; Gottheil, Fred (1982). "Iraqi and Syrian Socialism: An Economic Appraisal". Socialist Models of Development. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. pp. 825–836. ISBN 0-08-027921-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Heydemann, Steven (1999). "4: Building the Institutions of Populist Authoritarian Rule". Authoritarianism in Syria: Institutions and Social Conflict. New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 84–104. ISBN 0-8014-2932-3.
  17. ↑ Kahne, Z. Giele, Hilda, Janet; M. Moghadem, Valentine (2019). "5: Women, Employment, and Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa". Women's Work and Women's Lives: The Continuing Struggle Worldwide. New York: Routledge. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-8133-0636-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ Moaddel, Mansoor (2005). "Introduction: Sociological Theories of Ideology and Cultural Change". Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-226-53332-8.
  19. ↑ T. Hunter, Malik, Shireen, Huma (2005). Modernization, Democracy, and Islam. Praegar Publishers. pp. 106–107. ISBN 0-275-98511-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ Lane, Redissi, Jan-Erik, Hamadi (2009). "13: Islam and Politics: Where the Principal Difficulty of Post-modernity Lies". Religion and Politics: Islam and Muslim Civilization (2nd ed.). Surrey, England: Ashgate. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7546-7418-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Heydemann, Stevem; Perthes, Volker (2000). "5: State Building, National Security and War Preparation in Syria". War, Institutions, and Social Change in the Middle East. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press. pp. 151–156. ISBN 0-520-22421-3.
  22. ↑ Suerbaum, Magdalena (2021). "1: Being a man vis-a-vis Militarization, War and the Uprising". Masculinities and Displacement in the Middle East: Syrian Refugees in Egypt. New York: I.B Tauris. pp. 23–52. ISBN 978-1-8386-0404-2.
  23. ↑ Umit Ungor, Ugur (2020). "1: Introduction". Paramilitarism: Mass Violence in the Shadow of the State (1st ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–21. ISBN 978-0-19-882524-1.
  24. ↑ Fleischman, Luis (2021). "3: Arab World and the Peace Process". The Middle East Riddle: A Study of the Middle East Peace Process and Israeli-Arab Relations in Current Times. New Academia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7333980-8-4. LCCN 2020922086.
  25. ↑ Solomon, Christopher (2022). In Search of Greater Syria: The History and Politics of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. New York, NY 10018, USA: I.B. Tauris. pp. 43, 56, 70. ISBN 978-1-8386-0640-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  26. ↑ Awad, Ziad (27 January 2023). The 2022 Syrian Local Elections: A Leadership Rooted in Regime Networks. Via dei Roccettini 9, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy: European University Institute. p. 11. doi:10.2870/52247. ISBN 978-92-9466-358-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  27. ↑ Guirguis, Laure; Rey, Matthieu (2020). "Free Elections versus Authoritarian Practices: What Baathists Fought For". Arab Lefts: Histories and Legacies, 1950s-1970s. Edinburgh EH8 8PJ, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 57–75. ISBN 978-1-4744-5423-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  28. ↑ Phillips, Christopher (2020). The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East. London, UK: Yale University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-300-21717-9.
  29. ↑ Atassi, Karim (2018). Syria, the Strength of an Idea: The Constitutional Architectures of Its Political Regimes. New York, NY 10006, USA: Cambridge University Press. pp. 259–262, 382. doi:10.1017/9781316872017. ISBN 978-1-107-18360-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  30. ↑ Atassi, Karim (2018). Syria, the Strength of an Idea: The Constitutional Architectures of Its Political Regimes. New York, NY 10006, USA: Cambridge University Press. pp. 262, 344. doi:10.1017/9781316872017. ISBN 978-1-107-18360-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  31. ↑ C. Tucker, Spencer (2015). "Baath party". U.S. Conflicts in the 21st Century. Vol. 1. California, USA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 135, 136. ISBN 978-1-4408-3878-1.
  32. ↑ The Israel Economist. Vol. 26–27. University of Minnesota: Kollek & Son, Limited. 1970. p. 61. The ideology propounded by the Ba'ath changed completely. The accent on Arab nationalism was discarded as was moderate socialism. Their place was taken by Syrian nationalism and extreme left-wing ideas verging on communism.
  33. ↑ "Syrian nationalism is all about masculinity". The Conversation. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2023. And just as these ideas are at the forefront of the Syrian conflict, they will be very familiar to any ordinary Syrian. Assad's invigorated nationalism is a highly amplified and intensified version of the same nationalist ideology that we have all experienced over the last four decades.
  34. ↑ Galvani, John (February 1974). "Syria and the Baath Party". MERIP Reports (25): 3–16. doi:10.2307/3011567. JSTOR 3011567 – via JSTOR.
  35. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 83, 140, 153. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5. history of Syria shows that they were not enough to reconcile Islamic ideas of political obligation and the notion of a secular state...Neo-Ba'thists had brought in sectarianism and Marxist theory and had wrung from 'Aflaq the concessions to their views in the Muntalaqat.
  36. ↑ Al-Maaloli, Dr. Raymon (Apr 28, 2016). The Ideology of Authority: 50 Years of Education in Syria [إيديولوجية السلطة: خمسون عاماً على التعليم في سوريا]. Fikra Forum: An initiative of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Policy Analysis Articles & Op-Eds. "Syria’s 1973 constitution makes this connection explicit... Article 21 of the constitution defines the purpose of the educational system as, “Creating a socialist nationalist Arab generation which is scientifically minded and attached to its history and land, proud of its heritage, and filled with the spirit of struggle to achieve its nation's objectives of unity, freedom, and socialism, and to serve humanity and its progress.”"
  37. ↑ "Baʿath Party". Britannica. 2020. The Baʿath Party espoused nonalignment and opposition to imperialism and colonialism...
  38. ↑ "How Is Syria Ruled?". The Washington Institute.
  39. ↑ "Syria - The Baath Party Apparatus". countrystudies.us.
  40. ↑ Al-Shami, Leila; Meckfessel, Shon (1 August 2023). "Why the US Far Right Loves Bashar al-Assad".
  41. ↑ Wieland, Carsten (June 2007). "SYRIA'S CHALLENGES AFTER THE ELECTION YEAR IS BASHAR AL-ASAD PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST?". Papel Politico. 12 (1): 209–236.
  42. ↑ Walt, Stephen (1987). "3:From the Baghdad Pact to the Six Day War". The Origins of Alliances. Cornell University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-0-8014-9418-5. yet another coup d'etat in Syria in February 1966 ousted the old guard of the Ba'th Party... and gave a radical faction (subsequently dubbed the neo-Ba'th) undisputed power. Abandoning the traditional goal of Arab unity, the new leaders proclaimed a radical socialist platform at home and a commitment to violent revolutionary activity abroad..
  43. ↑
    • El-attrache, Mohammed (1973). The Political Philosophy of Michel Aflaq and the Ba'th Party in Syria. Norman, Oklahoma, USA: University of Oklahoma. pp. 160–177. hdl:11244/3545.
    • Roberts, David (2015). "7: Ba'athist Doctrine". The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 62–76. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
    • Bar-Siman-Tov, Yaacov (1983). "7: The Neo-Ba'ath Regime". Linkage Politics in the Middle East Syria Between Domestic and External Conflict, 1961-1970. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-86531-945-6.
    • K. Wilber, P. Jameson, Charles, Kenneth; Gottheil, Fred (1982). "Iraqi and Syrian Socialism: An Economic Appraisal". Socialist Models of Development. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. pp. 825–836. ISBN 0-08-027921-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    • Heydemann, Steven (1999). "4: Building the Institutions of Populist Authoritarian Rule". Authoritarianism in Syria: Institutions and Social Conflict. New York: Cornell University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8014-2932-3.
  44. ↑ Multiple sources:
    • Cavoški, Jovan (2022). Non-Aligned Movement Summits: A History. UK: Bloomsburry. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-3500-3209-5. Syria, headed by the radical leftist Baath Party overtly challenged Nasser's leadership credentials by highlighting his diminished revolutionary spirit.
    • I. Dawisha, Adeed (1980). "3: External and Internal Setting". Syria and the Lebanese Crisis. London, UK: Macmillan Press Ltd. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-349-05373-5. The change has been particularly marked under Asad. He has created a fairly popular Presidential regime: radical left, the most advanced socialist regime in the Arab world, it is progressively widening the frame to include more peasants and labourers.
    • The Israel Economist. Vol. 26–27. University of Minnesota: Kollek & Son, Limited. 1970. p. 61. The ideology propounded by the Ba'ath changed completely. The accent on Arab nationalism was discarded as was moderate socialism. Their place was taken by Syrian nationalism and extreme left-wing ideas verging on communism.
    • Abadi, Jacob (2004). Israel's Quest for Recognition and Acceptance in Asia: Garrison State Diplomacy. London, UK: Frank Class Publishers. p. 22. ISBN 0-7146-5576-7. radical left-wing Ba'ath party in Syria.
    • S. Abu Jaber, Kamel (1966). The Arab Ba'th Socialist Party: History, Ideology and Organization. Syracuse, New York, USA: Syracuse University Press. pp. xii–xiii, 33–47, 75–97. LCCN 66-25181. The leadership now in control of Syria does not represent the gamut of the Ba'th party. It is composed mainly of extreme leftists vesting almost exclusive authority in the military wing of the party.
    • Hopwood, Derek (2013). Syria 1945-1986: Politics and Society. Routledge. pp. 45–46, 73–75, 90. doi:10.4324/9781315818955. ISBN 9781317818427. The period 1963 to 1970 when Asad finally succeeded was marked ideologically by uncertainty and even turbulence. It was a period of transition from the old nationalist politicians to the radical socialist Baathis.. struggle between 'moderates' and radicals was centred on the dispute whether to impose a radical left wing government and a social revolution on Syria or to follow a more moderate Arab unionist course which would possibly appease opponents of the Baath. The radicals largely held the upper hand and worked to strengthen the control of the party over the state.
    • Phillips, Christopher (2020). The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East. London, UK: Yale University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-300-21717-9. In 1963.. the socialist Ba'ath Party, seized power. The radical left wing of the party then launched an internal coup in 1966, initiating accelerated land reform
    • Mikhaĭlovich Vasilʹev, Alekseĭ (1993). Russian Policy in the Middle East: From Messianism to Pragmatism. University of Michigan, USA: Ithaca Press. pp. 63, 76. ISBN 978-0863721687. Syrian Baathist version of Arab nationalism and socialism offered plenty of points of contact with Soviet policy.. when the left-wing Baathist faction led by Nureddin Atasi came to power, accelerated Syria's rapprochement with the Soviet Union.. for the USSR Syria remained an uneasy ally whose actions were beyond control, often unpredictable and the cause of complications. The ultra-leftist slogans originating from Damascus (such as a "people's war") were not received enthusiastically in Moscow. Mustafa Tlas, the new Syrian chief of staff, was a theoretician of guerrilla warfare and had even translated works by Che Guevara who was not particularly popular among the Soviet leaders."
    • Climent, James (2015). World Terrorism: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence from Ancient Times to the Post-9/11 Era (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-7656-8284-0. influence of different views, came from the more radical left-wing nationalist groups. These groups included.. Syria's Ba'ath party which seized power in Damascus in 1963
  45. ↑ Elizabeth O'Bagy (7 June 2012). "Syria's Political Struggle: Spring 2012" (Backgrounder). ISW. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  46. ↑ Perthes, Volker (1997). The Political Economy of Syria Under Asad. I.B. Tauris. p. 156. ISBN 1-86064-192-X.
  47. ↑ Tejel 2009, p. 149.
  48. 1 2 Kostiner 2007, p. 36.
  49. ↑ George 2003, pp. 66–67.
  50. 1 2 3 George 2003, p. 67.
  51. 1 2 Peretz 1994, p. 413.
  52. ↑ Finer & Stanley 2009, p. 149.
  53. 1 2 3 4 5 Federal Research Division 2004, pp. 211–212.
  54. 1 2 Federal Research Division 2004, pp. 52–53.
  55. ↑ Podeh 1999, pp. 152–153.
  56. 1 2 Rabinovich 1972, p. 45.
  57. 1 2 3 Rabinovich 1972, p. 47.
  58. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, p. 48.
  59. ↑ Moubayed 2006, p. 249.
  60. ↑ Federal Research Division 2004, p. 55.
  61. 1 2 Rabinovich 1972, pp. 36–39.
  62. ↑ Reich 1990, p. 34.
  63. 1 2 Seale 1990, pp. 76–78.
  64. ↑ Seale 1990, p. 78.
  65. ↑ George 2003, pp. 68–69.
  66. ↑ Galvani, John (February 1974). "Syria and the Baath Party". MERIP Reports (25): 12, 13. doi:10.2307/3011567. JSTOR 3011567 – via JSTOR.
  67. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). "6: The Ba'ath in Power". The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 57, 61. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  68. ↑ George 2003, p. 69.
  69. ↑ Seale 1990, p. 142.
  70. ↑ Seale 1990, pp. 149–150.
  71. 1 2 Federal Research Division 2004, p. 213.
  72. ↑ "Syria Between Two Transitions". MERIP. 15 June 1997. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  73. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). "Appendix C: Syria-Iran". The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 159–161. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  74. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 53, 106–108. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  75. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). "12: Hafiz al-Asad - II". The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 114–117, 119–121. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  76. ↑ Pipes, Daniel (1995). "1: Assad's Post-Soviet Predicament". Syria Beyond the Peace Process. Washington Institute for Near East Policy. pp. 6–8. ISBN 0-944029-64-7.
  77. ↑ Rezaei, Farhad (2019). "3: Iran and Russia: Completing the Pivot to the East?". Iran's Foreign Policy After the Nuclear Agreement. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 62. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76789-5. ISBN 978-3-319-76788-8. S2CID 158854597.
  78. ↑ Bar 2006, p. 362.
  79. ↑ Federal Research Division 2004, pp. 199–200.
  80. ↑ Brechner 1978, p. 257.
  81. 1 2 "Assad's 20-year rule, from Damascus Spring to pariah". France 24. 9 June 2021. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.
  82. ↑ Rabil, Robert (2 June 2005). "Baath Party Congress in Damascus: How Much Change in Syria?". Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  83. ↑ Ghadbian 2001, p. 636.
  84. ↑ Bar 2006, p. 388.
  85. ↑ "The Damascus Spring". Carnegie Middle East Center. 1 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016.
  86. 1 2 al-Amin, Ibrahim (9 July 2013). "Syria's Baath: A National Sideshow". Al Akhbar. Archived from the original on 12 July 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  87. 1 2 Abdul-Jalil, Moghrabi, Murad, Yamen (3 July 2020). "Al-Assad attempts to boost "Ba'ath" vigor to tighten control". Enab Baladi. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  88. ↑ Cooper (2015), p. 21.
  89. ↑ Aron Lund (13 January 2014). "The Baath Battalions Move into Damascus". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  90. ↑ "Syria to hold referendum on new constitution". BBC World News. BBC Online. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  91. ↑ Chulov, Martin (27 February 2012). "Syrian regime rockets bombard Homs". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  92. ↑ "Presidential Decree on Syria's New Constitution". Syrian Arab News Agency. 28 February 2012. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  93. ↑ Rezaei, Farhad (2019). "3: Iran and Russia: Completing the Pivot to the East?". Iran's Foreign Policy After the Nuclear Agreement. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 62–74. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76789-5. ISBN 978-3-319-76788-8. S2CID 158854597.
  94. ↑ Shaar, Akil, Karam, Samy (28 January 2021). "Inside Syria's Clapping Chamber: Dynamics of the 2020 Parliamentary Elections". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  95. ↑ Lucas, Scott (25 February 2021). "How Assad Regime Tightened Syria's One-Party Rule". EA Worldview. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021.
  96. 1 2 George 2003, p. 73.
  97. ↑ George 2003, p. 65.
  98. ↑ George 2003, p. 77.
  99. 1 2 Federal Research Division 2004, p. 216.
  100. 1 2 Perthes 1997, p. 140.
  101. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, p. 148.
  102. ↑ George 2003, p. 73.
  103. 1 2 3 4 Federal Research Division 2004, p. 215.
  104. 1 2 George 2003, p. 70.
  105. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, p. 149.
  106. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, p. 150.
  107. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, pp. 150–151.
  108. ↑ Rabinovich 1972, p. 151.
  109. ↑ "National leadership workshop Arab world in the Heart of Regional and International Conflict" (PDF). The Ba'ath Message. Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region. 10 June 2000. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  110. 1 2 3 George 2003, p. 71.
  111. 1 2 George 2003, p. 72.
  112. ↑ George 2003, pp. 72–73.
  113. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 49, 57, 61, 72, 82–83, 88–100, 133–134, 148–149, 153, 161. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  114. ↑ S. Abu Jaber, Kamel (1966). The Arab Ba'th Socialist Party: History, Ideology and Organization (1st ed.). Syracuse, New York, USA: Syracuse University Press. pp. xii–xiii, 76–78, 93–95. LCCN 66-25181.
  115. ↑ Roberts, David (2015). "13: Conclusions". The Ba'ath and the creation of modern Syria (Routledge Library Editions: Syria ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 136–139. ISBN 978-0-415-83882-5.
  116. ↑ Walt, Stephen (1987). "3:From the Baghdad Pact to the Six Day War". The Origins of Alliances. Cornell University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-0-8014-9418-5.
  117. ↑ F. Devlin, John (1976). "16: Military Ascendancy in Syria". The Baath Party: A History From its Origins to 1966. Stanford University, California: Hoover Institution Press. pp. 281–307. ISBN 978-0817965617.
  118. ↑ Galvani, John (February 1974). "Syria and the Baath Party". MERIP Reports (25): 3, 7–10. doi:10.2307/3011567. JSTOR 3011567 – via JSTOR.
  119. ↑ Korany, Baghat; Dessouki, Ali (2010). The Foreign Policies of Arab States: The Challenge of Globalization. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 423, 424. ISBN 978-977-416-360-9.
  120. ↑ Van Dam, Nikolaos (2011). "10: Conclusions". The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society Under Asad and the Ba'th Party (4th ed.). London: I. B Tauris. pp. 143–144. ISBN 978-1-84885-760-5.
  121. ↑ Van Dam, Nikolaos (2011). "10: Conclusions". The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society Under Asad and the Ba'th Party (4th ed.). London: I. B Tauris. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-84885-760-5.
  122. ↑ Phillips, Christopher (2020). "2: The Arab Spring comes to Syria". The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East. London, UK: Yale University Press. pp. 42–45. ISBN 978-0-300-21717-9.
  123. ↑ Aslan Ozgul, Billur (2019). Leading Protests in the Digital Age: Youth Activism in Egypt and Syria (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 9–10, 41–44, 227. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6. ISBN 978-3-030-25449-0. S2CID 204449526.
  124. ↑ A. Reilly, James (2018). "7: Thirty Years of Hafez Al-Assad". Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria. London, UK: I. B Tauris. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-78453-961-0.
  125. 1 2 Adam Cathcart; Robert Winstanley-Chesters; Christopher K. Green, eds. (2017). Change and Continuity in North Korean Politics. New York: Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-138-68168-2.
  126. ↑ Wedeen, Lisa (2015). "1: Believing in Spectacles". Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 6, 12. doi:10.7208/chicago/978022345536.001.0001 (inactive 1 August 2023). ISBN 978-0-226-33337-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 (link)
  127. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Pierret, Thomas (2013). "4: The State Management of religion in Syria". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 86–89. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  128. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Pierret, Thomas (2013). "4: The State management of Religion in Syria". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  129. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Pierret, Thomas (2013). "4: The State Management of Religion in Syria". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 89–94. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  130. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Pierret, Thomas (2013). "4: The State management of religion in Syria". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 83–106. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  131. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Pierret, Thomas (2013). "4: The State Management of Religion in Syria". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 104–106. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  132. ↑ Heydemann, Leenders, Steven, Reinoud; Hidde Donker, Teije (2013). "5: Islamic Social Movements and the Syrian Authoritarian Regime". Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation and regime resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press. pp. 107–124. ISBN 978-0-8047-8301-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  133. ↑ "Syrian president abolishes position of Grand Mufti". Al Jazeera. 16 November 2021. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021.
  134. ↑ Meininghaus, Esther (2016). "Introduction". Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. I. B. Tauris. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-78453-115-7.
  135. ↑ George 2003, p. 64.
  136. ↑ George 2003, pp. 64–65.
  137. ↑ Federal Research Division 2004, p. 214.
  138. ↑ Kedar 2006, p. 228.
  139. ↑ Yonker, Solomon, Carl, Christopher. "The Banality of Authoritarian Control: Syria's Ba'ath Party Marches On". carnegieendowment.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  140. ↑ "Al-Assad: The Presidency That Never Ends". Civil Rights Defenders. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023.
  141. ↑ Awad, Ziad (27 January 2023). The 2022 Syrian Local Elections: A Leadership Rooted in Regime Networks. Via dei Roccettini 9, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy: European University Institute. pp. 5–20. doi:10.2870/52247. ISBN 978-92-9466-358-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

Notes

  1. ↑ Sources:[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
  2. ↑ [23][24]
  3. ↑ Sources:
    • Wieland, Carsten (2018). "6: De-neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus". Syria and the Neutrality Trap: The Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7556-4138-3.
    • Keegan, John (1979). "Syria". World Armies. New York, USA: Facts on File Inc. pp. 683–684. ISBN 0-87196-407-4.
    • Meininghaus, Esther (2016). "Introduction". Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. I. B. Tauris. pp. 1–33. ISBN 978-1-78453-115-7.

Bibliography

Journals and papers

Books

  • Brechner, Michael (1978). Studies in Crisis Behavior. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-87855-292-8.
  • Cooper, Tom (2015). Syrian Conflagration. The Civil War 2011–2013. Solihull: Helion & Company Limited. ISBN 978-1-910294-10-9.
  • Federal Research Division (2004). Syria: A Country Study. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4191-5022-7.
  • Finer, Samuel; Stanley, Jay (2009). The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7658-0922-3.
  • George, Alan (2003). Syria: Neither Bread nor Freedom. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-84277-213-3.
  • Kedar, Mordechai (2006). Asad in Search of Legitimacy: Message and Rhetoric in the Syrian Press Under. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-84519-185-4.
  • Kostiner, Joseph (2007). Conflict and Cooperation in the Gulf Region. VS Verlag. ISBN 978-1-84511-269-1.
  • Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). Steel & Silk: Men and Women who shaped Syria 1900–2000. Cune Press. ISBN 1-885942-40-0.
  • Perthes, Volker (1997). The Political Economy of Syria Under Asad. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-192-X.
  • Seale, Patrick (1990). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06976-5.
  • Peretz, Don (1994). The Middle East Today. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-94576-6.
  • Podeh, Elie (1999). The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise and Fall of the United Arabic Republic. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-902210-20-4.
  • Rabinovich, Itamar (1972). Syria under the Baʻth, 1963–66: the Army Party symbiosis. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7065-1266-9.
  • Reich, Bernard (1990). Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: a Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-26213-6.
  • Roberts, David (2013). The Ba'th and the Creation of Modern Syria. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317818540.
  • Sharp, Jeremy (2011). Syria: Issues for the 112th Congress and Background on U.S. Sanctions. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4379-4465-5.
  • Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-89211-4.
  • Zîser, Eyāl (2007). Commanding Syria: Bashar al-Asad and the First Years in Power. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-153-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.