The Syrian Uprising
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GOVT 444 / MEIS 599
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NOTE: the readings will be modified to reflect the class's composition
Overview
This course is an attempt to understand the roots, dynamics, and trajectory of the Syrian uprising, with particular attention to the oft-neglected social, economic, political, and institutional factors that exacerbated mass discontent prior. Special emphasis will be placed on the idea of “penetrated revolutions,” i.e., uprisings where external intervention thoroughly disrupts local conditions and processes, leading to severe transformations in the character, dynamics, and scope of the conflict.
After 10 years since the start of the uprising, Syria finds itself divided and embattled, with no positive end in sight. More than half of the Syrian population has been displaced and the death toll has surpassed 400,000 by all counts. Despite the reduction of ubiquitous hostilities, the Syrian tragedy persists and, more than any other case of mass uprising in the region, continues to be shrouded in political power-plays and contradictions at the local, regional, and international levels. Over the past nine years, the conflict in Syria has been transformed from a democratic protest against dictatorship to a regional and international proxy war with multiple attempts to redraw the political and, at times, territorial map of the region. By 2017, with the heavy-handed help of its allies, notably Russia and Iran, the Syrian regime was able to remain in power, presiding over a thoroughly damaged country, and an even more decrepit state, army, bureaucracy, infrastructure, and social services and institutions, The conflict persists.
Beyond the uprising, the course will address various themes that reflect the transition of a post-colonial state-centered economy to an amorphous mixed economy. The running theme leading up to the uprising will be the unravelling of the state-centered economy and its social, economic, political, and foreign policy correlates, including cold-war politics, regional isolation/détente, state-labor relations, state-business relations, the rise of political Islam, Syria’s rejectionist stance, intervention in Lebanon, the succession crisis, the rise of the mixed market economy in 2005, Syria’s post-Hariri isolation, and the current uprising. Special emphasis will be given to tracing the dynamics of social transformation and its implications throughout Syria’s modern history.
Though we will all be consumed at some level with current developments on Syria’s streets, our main focus will not always be on current events. We will be striking a balance between the broader explanatory concerns related to Syria’s politics and what is currently taking place on the ground there.
In addition to the literature on Syria, the readings will be drawn from classic political science literature on authoritarian rule (e.g., Linz), comparative historical accounts of democratic origins (e.g., Moore), and the political economy of liberalization (political and economic). The remainder of the readings will address the uprisings.
Please note: This is a reading intensive seminar that requires the production of a well-polished research paper, or project.
Course Website
I have been going paperless. All the information for this course will be published on the course website (URL TBA), including the weekly readings, which is subject to change: i.e., it will be updated in real time to reflect any changes, but the structure will remain largely the same.
Course Requirements
The seminar will have both an academic and a current events dimension. You are therefore expected to be reading/following the news regarding the region rather closely. The graded material will include in-class presentations, final paper presentation, and research paper.
Research Paper (or Project--to be determined in class)
The research paper is the most significant project you’ll work on in this course, and it is due during the last day of class. You should submit a paper proposal within 4 weeks from the beginning of class. The final paper should be 25-30 double-spaced pages, and based on extensive research. The paper topic must deal with an aspect of Syria’s contemporary politics or political economy. More information will be provided in class and on this website.
You should select your topic by the beginning of the third week and submit a one page document that includes (a) the topic you wish to write your paper on, (b) 4-6 preliminary sources (including a minimum of 2 books and 2 academic journal articles), and (c) a brief statement describing why you’re interested in writing about this particular topic and what concept/theory/explanatory concern in particular you wish to address. A formal paper proposal will be due when your topic is approved.
Grade Distribution
Final Paper/Project: 30%
Presentations/Participation: 15%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Response Papers: 25%
Final Paper Presentation: 5%
Attendance
Class participation will be essential in this course, the more so because we meet only once a week. Therefore, class attendance is a must. Unexcused absences will not reflect well in your participation grade.
Services for Students with Difference
If you have a documented difference (learning, physical, psychological) for which you are or may be requesting reasonable academic adjustments, you are encouraged to inform me as early as possible in the semester. I, personally, would be happy to accommodate all your legitimate requests regarding such matters, with or without documentation.
Academic Honesty
“The pursuit of knowledge can only take place in an atmosphere of honesty, integrity, and mutual trust.” In order to accomplish this, we must all be “committed to a policy that regards the highest degree of academic honesty as the norm.” Academic dishonesty is not tolerated at Georgetown University, nor is it in this course. Based on University policy, such acts of dishonesty may result in a failing grade for the relevant assignment or a failing grade for the course.
Course Materials
Patrick Seale, Asad:The Struggle for the Middle East (University of California Press, 1988)
Volker Perthes, The Political Economy of Syria Under Asad (I.B. Tauris, 1994)
Fred Lawson, ed., Demystifying Syria (SOAS, 2008)
Philip Khoury, Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism 1920-1945 (Princeton University Press, 1987)
Other Readings
Besides the required books, most articles will be made available electronically on this course website (or handed out in class). Students will not be held responsible for articles that are not accessible/available.
The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus according to changing circumstances.
The Syrian Uprising: Course Overview
ii.ISIS and Radicalization
iii.Infusion of the Global Into the Regional/Local
This course is an attempt to understand the roots, dynamics, and trajectory of the Syrian uprising, with particular attention to the oft-neglected social, economic, political, and institutional factors that exacerbated mass discontent prior. Special emphasis will be placed on the idea of “penetrated revolutions,” i.e., uprisings where external intervention thoroughly disrupts local conditions and processes, leading to severe transformations in the character, dynamics, and scope of the conflict.
After 10 years since the start of the uprising, Syria finds itself divided and embattled, with no positive end in sight. More than half of the Syrian population has been displaced and the death toll has surpassed 400,000 by all counts. Despite the reduction of ubiquitous hostilities, the Syrian tragedy persists and, more than any other case of mass uprising in the region, continues to be shrouded in political power-plays and contradictions at the local, regional, and international levels. Over the past nine years, the conflict in Syria has been transformed from a democratic protest against dictatorship to a regional and international proxy war with multiple attempts to redraw the political and, at times, territorial map of the region. By 2017, with the heavy-handed help of its allies, notably Russia and Iran, the Syrian regime was able to remain in power, presiding over a thoroughly damaged country, and an even more decrepit state, army, bureaucracy, infrastructure, and social services and institutions, The conflict persists.
Beyond the uprising, the course will address various themes that reflect the transition of a post-colonial state-centered economy to an amorphous mixed economy. The running theme leading up to the uprising will be the unravelling of the state-centered economy and its social, economic, political, and foreign policy correlates, including cold-war politics, regional isolation/détente, state-labor relations, state-business relations, the rise of political Islam, Syria’s rejectionist stance, intervention in Lebanon, the succession crisis, the rise of the mixed market economy in 2005, Syria’s post-Hariri isolation, and the current uprising. Special emphasis will be given to tracing the dynamics of social transformation and its implications throughout Syria’s modern history.
Though we will all be consumed at some level with current developments on Syria’s streets, our main focus will not always be on current events. We will be striking a balance between the broader explanatory concerns related to Syria’s politics and what is currently taking place on the ground there.
In addition to the literature on Syria, the readings will be drawn from classic political science literature on authoritarian rule (e.g., Linz), comparative historical accounts of democratic origins (e.g., Moore), and the political economy of liberalization (political and economic). The remainder of the readings will address the uprisings.
Please note: This is a reading intensive seminar that requires the production of a well-polished research paper, or project.
Course Website
I have been going paperless. All the information for this course will be published on the course website (URL TBA), including the weekly readings, which is subject to change: i.e., it will be updated in real time to reflect any changes, but the structure will remain largely the same.
Course Requirements
The seminar will have both an academic and a current events dimension. You are therefore expected to be reading/following the news regarding the region rather closely. The graded material will include in-class presentations, final paper presentation, and research paper.
Research Paper (or Project--to be determined in class)
The research paper is the most significant project you’ll work on in this course, and it is due during the last day of class. You should submit a paper proposal within 4 weeks from the beginning of class. The final paper should be 25-30 double-spaced pages, and based on extensive research. The paper topic must deal with an aspect of Syria’s contemporary politics or political economy. More information will be provided in class and on this website.
You should select your topic by the beginning of the third week and submit a one page document that includes (a) the topic you wish to write your paper on, (b) 4-6 preliminary sources (including a minimum of 2 books and 2 academic journal articles), and (c) a brief statement describing why you’re interested in writing about this particular topic and what concept/theory/explanatory concern in particular you wish to address. A formal paper proposal will be due when your topic is approved.
Grade Distribution
Final Paper/Project: 30%
Presentations/Participation: 15%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Response Papers: 25%
Final Paper Presentation: 5%
Attendance
Class participation will be essential in this course, the more so because we meet only once a week. Therefore, class attendance is a must. Unexcused absences will not reflect well in your participation grade.
Services for Students with Difference
If you have a documented difference (learning, physical, psychological) for which you are or may be requesting reasonable academic adjustments, you are encouraged to inform me as early as possible in the semester. I, personally, would be happy to accommodate all your legitimate requests regarding such matters, with or without documentation.
Academic Honesty
“The pursuit of knowledge can only take place in an atmosphere of honesty, integrity, and mutual trust.” In order to accomplish this, we must all be “committed to a policy that regards the highest degree of academic honesty as the norm.” Academic dishonesty is not tolerated at Georgetown University, nor is it in this course. Based on University policy, such acts of dishonesty may result in a failing grade for the relevant assignment or a failing grade for the course.
Course Materials
- Required Books:
- Bassam Haddad, Business Networks: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience in Syria (Stanford University Press, 2012). (Paperback) ISBN: 9780804785068
- Samer Abboud, Syria (Polity Press, 2018). (Paperback) ISBN: 9781509522415
- Christopher Phillips, The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East (Yale University Press, 2016). (Paperback) ISBN: 9780300234619
- Recommended Books:
Patrick Seale, Asad:The Struggle for the Middle East (University of California Press, 1988)
Volker Perthes, The Political Economy of Syria Under Asad (I.B. Tauris, 1994)
Fred Lawson, ed., Demystifying Syria (SOAS, 2008)
Philip Khoury, Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism 1920-1945 (Princeton University Press, 1987)
Other Readings
Besides the required books, most articles will be made available electronically on this course website (or handed out in class). Students will not be held responsible for articles that are not accessible/available.
The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus according to changing circumstances.
The Syrian Uprising: Course Overview
- Overview of the Syrian Uprising
- The Syrian Regime since 1963: Post-Colonial Background and Stages of Development and De-Development
- Post-Colonial Background: Pre-1963
- Internal Conflicts: 1963-1970
- Asad Builds the New Syrian State
- The Lost Decade and the Critical Decade: The 1980s and the 1990s
- Background to the Uprising: The Bashar Asad Reign and the Big Deceit
- The Regional Context of the Syrian Uprising
- The Stages of the Syrian Uprising
- Civil
- Militant
- Proxy
- The Long Proxy Years
- The War Economy
- The Regime and Its Allies
- The Opposition and their Allies
- The Outsiders and their Calculations
ii.ISIS and Radicalization
iii.Infusion of the Global Into the Regional/Local
- The War of Narratives
- The Battle of Aleppo and After
- The Current Moment of Damage and Despair