The battle for Syria : international rivalry in the new Middle East / Christopher Phillips.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Phillips, Christopher (Lecturer in international relations of the Middle East), author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Syria--History--Civil War, 2011-.

Syria.

History.

World politics.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 303 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016]

Summary:

"Most accounts of Syria's brutal, long-lasting civil war focus on a domestic contest that began in 2011 and only later drew foreign nations into the escalating violence. Christopher Phillips argues instead that the international dimension was never secondary but that Syria's warwas, from the very start, profoundly influenced by regional factors, particularly the vacuum created by a perceived decline of U.S. power in the Middle East. This precipitated a new regional order in which six external protagonists--the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar--have violently competed for influence, with Syria a key battleground. Drawing on a plethora of original interviews, Phillips constructs a new narrative of Syria's war. Without absolving the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime, the author untangles the key external factors which explain the acceleration and endurance of the conflict, including the West's strategy against ISIS. He concludes with some insights on Syria and the region's future"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Syria and the Middle East on the eve of civil war 10

2 The Arab Spring comes to Syria 40

3 Assad must stand aside? The international community's ambivalent response 59

4 International institutions and the slide to war 83

5 A legitimate representative? Supporting and subverting Syria's political opposition 105

6 'Arm the rebels!' Backing the armed opposition 125

7 To the hilt: Assad's allies dig in 147

8 No red lines: the question of western military intervention 168

9 Descent into chaos: stalemate and the rise of ISIS 189

10 Enter Russia: Putin raises the stakes 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780300217179

030021717X

OCLC:

945354558