1.8 Million Palestinian Citizens in Gaza face medical death

Jail sentences. Encounter deaths. And now, lack of medical facilities in Gaza curses the livelihood of Palestinians.

The vitriol of political diplomacy sinks in when one reads how thousands of Palestinian patients, suffering from the worst of diseases and medical abnormalities are unable to travel to Egypt, Jordan or Israel due to visa detentions. Back at home, the medical facilities in Gaza and West Bank are even more egregiously dismal.

The Palestinian Minister of Health in Gaza, Dr Bassem Naim, revealed how Gaza, in spite of being developed, depends on smuggling fuel for generating electricity, basically from Egypt. ‘When would electricity be available?’. Well, the answer defines or controls everything from operations, commutation, education and even water supply.

A leaked news from the secret meeting in Jordan involving Palestinian, Israeli and Egyptian intelligence states how they were devising ways of strangling Hamas . Stopping the fuel and energy supply to Gaza is one of the fundamental steps towards it.

Dr Bassem Naim stated how Egyptians also suffer. In North Sinai, for around 3-4 km, people wait for 24 hours for fuel, by being lined up in queues. For the past six months, Egyptians have become strict against this illegal smuggling. They have started controlling every tank from the entrance of Suez Canal, worsening the situation in Gaza.

Though, comparatively, Gaza suffers more than West Bank from humanitarian crisis. With 1.8 million people stuffed in 365 km, Gaza definitely is a prison. With Israeli drones operating all the time, besieged air and sea channels, human life in Palestine depends on dodging military, confining one’s space and appeasing the occupation. Everyday, there are 3-4 cases of burn, 45% of them being third degree burns. Most of these patients do not get proper state funding and hence, face premature deaths.

After the 13th September 1993 Oslo Accords, the Gaza citizens have been allowed to enter only three sea miles in the adjoining Red Sea. If they cross the limit, they are shot.

Even banks inside Gaza suffer from financial boycotts along with political isolation. Dr Bassem Naim exposed how he cant open a bank account for humanitarian funding for the hospitals in Gaza.

The borders are tightly closed. Gaza faces six gates with Israel and one gate with Egypt. Currently, only two of them are open officially. To travel through air,  Palestinians needs Israeli licenses, sometimes, months in advance. Only those who pass the security tests ends up having the permit. Mostly, Palestinians face a strict ‘no’.

Dr Bassem Naim states how the running cost of hospitals in Gaza amounts to $50 million but the state is not left with a single penny. He had to close dental clinics as there was no money to buy gloves. The Friday deaths in emergency cases during the prayer times have become a common phenomenon.

In 2008, Israel tried to suffocate Gaza strip with the help of Palestinian Authority. All the civil servants were asked to take forced sabbaticals. Otherwise, they would be fired.

Even 3 million kg of explosives were used by Israeli government against the citizens of Gaza, amounting to at least 2kg per citizen. Specimens of forbidden materials like uranium and cobalt have been found in the bomb attacks.

Thousands of Palestinians are still in jails. Israel has recently also adopted new models for arresting children.

Ultimately, twenty years of reconciliation have failed if deaths of innocent victims is the result of it. Dr Naim suggested that perhaps unifying institutions between Gaza and West Bank might help, ultimately leading to unification of government sector.

 

 

 

Would Obama administration protect Chen, the blind Chinese human rights dissident?

Ever wondered why Chinese authorities- the Communist Party of China (CPC) and even the PLA, never give press conferences? 2012, being the election year, is creating hullabaloo from everywhere from France to India; China remains quiet. The international community’s intelligence fails more when it comes to discerning about China than even Iran or North Korea. But the silence before the storm did end. And the man that did so, was  blind dissident Chen Guangcheng. 

The self taught lawyer was placed under house arrest for 4 years. He had gained fame and massive empathy after fighting against the inhuman trends used by Chinese government to retain ‘One couple, One child policy’. Be it sterilising, abortions or even vasectomy, the Chinese government left no stone unturned. In the province of Shandong, 500 km south of Beijing, the entire concept of social contract theory, liberty and right to life failed. While the atrocities of China in Tibet and Taiwan have been in limelight, these brutal cases of population control hardly received media attention.

Chen Guangcheng and his wife, both in their 40s, have been in house arrest for Chen’s human rights activism. But last week of April, he somehow managed to escape by bluffing the Chinese guards that he was ill and hence, they had decreased the vigilance. With the help of his other activist colleagues, Chen travelled 500 kms north to the US Embassy in Beijing. Now, there are two loopholes in this narration. First, if Chen was in house arrest, how did he manage to communicate about his run off to his colleagues? Secondly, why was US embassy chosen?

Anyways, as the story goes on, Chen goes to the US embassy, talks with the embassy officials there and reveals about his four year long arrest. He also talks to Hillary Clinton who promises him that he and his wife would be getting protection from America. But justice is not that simple. Chinese dragon glared at Uncle Sam. US has no right to intervene in the political matters of China. Criticism started and the rivalries got difficult to contain. Sadly, the wrath of it all, was faced by Chen’s wife who was nearly beaten to death in her house after her husband escaped.

Chen on the other hand, was ‘suggested’ to leave the premises of US embassy as his story got international attention. US officials took picture of him, revealing how happy he was to go to the hospital. One of the embassy staff even mentioned that Chen was so pleased with American response that he exclaimed he could even kiss Hillary Clinton. The photographs were preserved, less like a souvenir but more like evidences for defense. Chen was consoled that he would be having officials at the hospital with him. There was nothing to worry. But that’s exactly when the story changed.

When Chen arrived at the hospital, he was all alone. He had no idea that his escape has caused so much of impact. He had no idea what his wife was going through. Now, there comes another loophole in the story. When Chen was in the embassy, how come, he did not communicate with his wife? He also had fellow colleagues in Shandong who would certainly know what was going on. Anyways, the US embassy stated that Chen did not seek refuge for protection but for medical emergency. Also, they stated that he wanted to head to the hospital and it was not the suggestion of US officials. What exactly happened, very few people know about.

This entire case of human rights has emerged during the election campaign time for Obama. So, would he provide safety to Chen or ignore him? The issue took graver position as Hillary Clinton would be in Beijing next week to talk about trade relations. China might simply back off in anger if Chen’s issue is given more attention. After all, US- China ties have been going through worst confrontational period due to the Syria and Iran issue. Another addition to it can further fire up the volatile issue.

Only time would tell if Chen, the human rights dissident gets justice or is his story simply forgotten?

What does it mean to be a Palestinian in Israel?

Palestinians trapped in Israel have a different life compared to those in Gaza and West Bank. But very often, their stories goes unheard.

The Palestinians in Israel right from 1948 suffer from marginalization, segregation and democratic illusion. Haneen Zoabi, the first lady to represent Palestinians in Israeli Knesset (Parliament),  revealed the depth of atrocities being carried out by the Jewish State.

She stated ‘Even calling ourselves Palestinians is derogatory. Hence, we are called as ‘Israeli Arabs’. In 2007, Palestinians have been termed as ‘strategic threat’ for Israel. A couple of decades after 1967, Israel was not very frightened with peaceful Palestinian protests. But the power of first and second Intifadah changed everything.

Land Confiscation by Jewish National Fund has become prominent. In the coming months, 8000 dumas of Palestinian land in South of Israel is going to be confiscated. Also, Israel promotes foreign workers instead of Palestinians. Right after 1948, rich and educated Palestinians were expelled from Israel so that they do not get a chance to promote their culture. Hence today, there is no cinema, clubs or vibrant nightlife in Israel.

Palestinian peasants are not allowed to grow certain crops. Milk and butter is rare for them. They are made dependent on Israeli market products to exist. Also, the mantra of hating Palestinians have been cultivated in the minds of the Israelis so that they can manufacture a certain idea of unity amongst themselves. Normal citizens are taught, right from their birth to be Zionist.

Haneen questions that in the past few years, Israel has grown obsessive with being called a democracy. This lunatic obsession states that Israel is insecure and hence, would do everything possible to attain the respect at international platform.

Like every politician Haneen does not just blame the Israelis for the plight of Palestinians but also states that even her own Arabs and Palestinians have a role to play. For example, Hamas and Fatah, both do not pay heed to the problems suffered by Palestinians inside Israel. Very often, their issues are ignored as an ‘internal or domestic problem’.

Haneen stated that ‘Negotiation can not be a substitute for struggle.’ When asked, where she gets her strength from, she simply replied ‘There are two options. One is to struggle hard while the other is to give up. For me, giving up is the most difficult part. Hence, I choose to struggle.’

Due to her audacity and frankness, the Israeli parliament is currently looking for political issues through which they can strip her off from the Knesset. With 1000 voters for her Balaad party, Haneen Zaobi tries to avoid revealing the tensions behind her smile as a disguise.

Why Saudi Arabia has emerged as a haven for foreign diplomacy against Syria?

Before the second ‘Friends of Syria’s meeting was going to be held in Istanbul on 1st April, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was busy globetrotting in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The aim was to enhance diplomatic efforts against Bashar al Assad, fact that has become the burning topic of G-8 Summit, BRICS meeting and Arab League’s propaganda.

Interestingly, apart from Turkey which hits the limelight for garnering support against Assad, Saudi Arabia has evolved into a new haven. Hillary Clinton met Saudi King Abdullah and the Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal. Apparently, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been arming the rebels of Syria against the Army- a fact that was confessed after these nations mustered the courage to accept it internationally. Another objective of Hillary Clinton was also to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council-US strategic cooperation forum. Turning away from Syria, this aimed to target Iran and its nuclear power ‘development’. Behind the disguise of bilateral and regional issues, exists the Joan Of Arc narrative to declare ‘Iran and Syria’ as the new axis of evil.  Somewhere perhaps, President Bush might be having the last laugh.

This Friday Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is going to hold diplomatic talks with Saudi’s King Abdullah about ‘Iran’ and “Syria’. Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are predominantly Sunni Muslim majority countries. While Turkey has revolutionised its identity for the sake of joining the EU, Saudi Arabia stands to be audaciously dominating the population of its kingdom, denying them liberties and democracy.

Theories of international relations state that democracy enlargement does not mean ‘regime change’- the aim of US and Western allies. Endorsing a proxy government, endowing ‘popular’ democracy rather than ‘Representative democracy’ is not the right deal. Perhaps, all these leaders should learn from Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez who has implemented grassroots reform and never forgot the main cause that made him win- the fight for the better livelihood of the poor.

Eventually, the entire episode in Syria, even after the acceptance of the 6 point peace plan in Syria, is nothing but a manipulated game, or perhaps an already fixed cricket match. The peace plan puts no pressure on Assad to abdicate and hence, it does not change anything. The constitution was put to referendum and Syria is going to have its parliamentary elections soon. Kofi Annan, who never questioned the illegal NATO bombing in Bosnia is suddenly looked up as a ‘Messiah’ just because he admitted to BBC that Iraq invasion by US was illegal. Mind you, he was not looking for second term as UN Secretary General then as he was during the time of Kosovo.

In a nutshell, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are just flaunting their imperialist agendas under the mask of Islam which might not give them anything in the end. Certainly, not the lives of innocent civilians who are dead in Syria. A number that rose to 9000 according to UN, recently.

Book Review: Nationalist Voices in Jordan- The street and the State

Reading ‘Nationalist Voices in Jordan‘ is similar to watching the history rebuild itself in a dramatic yet educating manner.      Dr. Betty S. Anderson, an associate Professor of Middle East History at Boston University, has explained how Hashemite regime literally formulated Jordan’s history. Jordan is described as a weak country that struggles to find its own identity and is also dependent on developed countries for foreign aid.

Dr. Anderson acknowledges why Hashemites faced a powerful opposition movement in 1950s by Jordanian National Movement. And then she follows the trail of investigating why JNM failed, in fact, destroyed itself, altogether. As she presents her analysis, it is often defended by previous works of well known intellectuals such as Partha Chatterjee, Homi Bhabha, John Roberts, Gregory Starrett, etc.

Taking an academic stand, the book stresses how, decade after decade, students were taught how Jordan to stood at the epicenter of a potential reunion of divided Arab countries because of Hashemite leadership. Also, in Jordan and Palestine, the debates about ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ domains played out on the ground in the 20th century because political activity came hand in hand with Nationalist discourse.

Initially, an opposition movement ‘Transjordan for Transjordanians’ failed to construct itself. Support for the Hashemites and British gained due to the institutions they built- the bureaucracy, army, schools, clubs as well as services like transportation and electricity. A reciprocal relationship was established between land reform and peasants.

Interestingly, these platforms later led to vigorous debates and culmination of JNM. Also, the question of Jordanian national identity became more complex when Palestinians teams with Jordanian colleagues to form JNM.

For a very long time- boundaries, politics and strategies defined the citizenry of Jordan. Dr. Anderson describes how under Britain’s guidance, Abdullah relied on Palestinian officials to run his government. Over the years, the Muslim Brotherhood grew in Jordan, but just as a side-kick of Hashemite regime that applied opportunistic tactics to voice against the JNM.

JNM failed in 1957 due to inner differences and frequent conflicts between the political leaders. The internal politics was also weakened through involvement of countries like US, Britain, Egypt and Syria. Even the Ba’th Party finally split in 1960s.

The book does not discuss ‘Black September’ and the change in circumstances that finally led to King Hussain’s hatred for Palestinians. Also, Dr. Anderson does not use interview pieces from common Jordanians who could have provided a better insight into their daily lives and how it has changed over the years. The foreign relations of Jordan are not exposed, apart from the role played by the British right from its germination.

In the end, Dr. Anderson exposes how Jordan has turned into a perfect example of how a colonial state with foreign leadership can be transformed into a nation.

Russia’s new step in Syria’s conflict, a plan against Arab League’s sluggishness

Gennady Gatilov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, in his tirade against ‘Friends of Syria’ in Istanbul on 1st April, discredited the entire meeting. He stated that ‘many Syrians do not consider ‘Friends of Syria’ as their friend’. Indeed, few diplomats reckon that FOS members are bought by Israel.

Until last week, the 6 point peace plan of UN Envoy Kofi Annan and Assad’s acceptance proved to be another matter to ignore. Clashes grew further worse. On one hand, Assad who calls the rebellions as foreign agents or terrorists. demanded their surrender while the rebels wanted the government’s military to halt. For sometime, it seemed like the ‘Israel-Palestine’ conflict is wearing another disguise.  I wonder what Critical Theorists and Contructivists would define this respective scenario as.

In another major development, the Arab League perhaps has not learnt from its failure in Iraq’s meeting. Now, the Arab League wants to embark on the special mission of initiating an Arab League Tribunal in Syria to impart justice to the war crimes. New York Times gladly mentions the success of such tribunals in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. But the plan will not work. Firstly, Syria is smart enough to understand that this is another conspiracy of the Arab countries. Nothing but a vindictive measure to punish Syria for its political diplomacy with Iran. Secondly, has the international community obliterated to the results of Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa which gave dismal results for the anti-apartheid struggle.

But what is much more interesting right now is the sudden invitation of Russia towards the Foreign Minister of Syria. Next Tuesday Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a diplomat who has been getting a lot of media attention lately. What interests me is that Russia asked the NCC (the National Coordination Committee) to come over to Moscow but not the SNC and the other defected opposition parties. Undoubtedly, Russia is employing a form of political containment which would ensure different results.

Book Review: Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy

Ben White in his recent book ‘ Palestinians in Israel’ takes a stand to explain how the Israeli gaze has turned towards to the unfinished war of 1948.
Palestinians in Israel suffer from ‘segregation, discrimination and democracy‘. The Jewish National Fund, Jewish Agency and new umbrella council of NGOs have deliberately curtailed the ‘Bedouin Expansion‘. “Judaising Negev and Galilee‘ is one of the prime agendas of Israel’s ethnocracy. Upper Nazreth scares the government for being the largest Palestinian city inside the pre 1967 borders. That’s exactly why Menachem Begin’s government planned for a series of settlements called Mitzpim to be placed at the higher topographical points in Upper Nazreth.

Ben White has dedicated this book to Ameer Markhoul, his wife Janin and their 2 daughters. Markhoul, the director of Arab NGO Network Ittijah was arrested in May 2010. He was convicted of espionage for Hezbollah and has been detained for the past 2 years without any legal trial.

A brief glimpse is provided into Haneen Zoabi‘s life and how she has become object of hatred, along with being physically assaulted for her pro-Palestinian views in the Knesset. MK Yarin Levin, the Head of House Committe has even called her a disgrace in the Knesset. Haneen wrote the preface for this book and she describes how Palestinians being called as ‘Arabs in Israel’ or “Israel Arab’s is creating a new Israeli Arab identity, ie, one of the tacit goals of the state.’

The 15th Knesset (1999-2002) has played an active role in redrawing the boundaries of Arab citizenship, enacting a number of discriminatory laws affecting Palestinian citizens political expression, family life and economic status. Also, Netanyahu’s government replaced all Arab names on road sides with Jewish ones and the Palestinian citizens were forbidden to teach Nakba.

In just 100 pages, White has produced an interesting account of how Israel has been using the ‘exclusionary land regime‘ game to discriminate Palestinians. The three main tools include dispossession, the regime for ownership and privatisation of non-private land and system regulating land development and land use planning. The passing of ‘Absentee Property Law’ in 1950 made it even more difficult for Palestinians to claim ownership of their own land.

The ‘Green Patrol’, a paramilitary enforcement unity has removed 900 Bedouin villages in the past years. As a result, Palestinian minority that makes 20% of the population, holds only 3.5% of the states land.  The Palestinians face the deliberate discrimination in education and job markets also. Israel has been intelligently imparting low-class education and investment on Palestinian students so that there is a huge gap between them and Israeli students in the later job market stage.

In the last chapter, ‘Rethink and Re-imagine’, White explains how Palestinian people know from decades that even the smallest gains in their struggle for liberation are not achieved without a fight or a cost. He urges the readers to ‘think that how as a result of Israeli policies and legislation, one in seven Palestinians is a 2nd class citizen, a third are under military rule without citizenship and half of all Palestinians are outside the borders, disposed and forbidden from returning.’

He concludes with the words of Ameer Markhoul from the prison, ‘For in a dictatorship, everything goes well until the last 15 minutes’

Arab League in Iraq, BRICS Summit in India and Kofi Annan in China: New Failures for Syria

Political diplomacy and democracy enlargement touches new boundaries with the Arab League, BRICS and UN Envoy Annan, all discussing about ‘Syria’ this week.

Recently, President Bashar al- Assad agreed to adopt the 6-point peace plan forwarded by UN -Arab League Envoy Annan. No doubt, it was an intelligent move, as the statement is not a UN resolution, it does not demand Assad’s departure and no immediate date has been mentioned when this plan should be implemented. One can witness history repeating itself when the US Senators start the chorus of arming the opposition in Syria and UN Humanitarian Chief Navi Pillay states that there is ample evidence to arrest Assad. The same happened in the case of Libya when ICC issued arrest warrants against Colonel Gadaffi while David Cockburn revealed that both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do not have evidence. No doubt, its not a conscientious choice to support Assad. But then again, we have to realise that at present, he is the one who is actually controlling Syria. If he goes away, who will take the responsibility that Libya does not shatter into a civil war.

Arab League Summit in Iraq

As far as the Arab Summit is concerned, its more of a long awaited opportunity for Baghdad to enter the limelight again. Unfortunately, only seven out of the 22 member states are attending the meeting. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have declined to join it. In fact, the Emir of Kuwait is the sole representative from Gulf countries to be present in Iraq. Sectarian issues are predominant here. Grudges against Sunni Arab majority being dominated by the Shiite government is unacceptable to Qatar. Nothing is more evident than the fact that Iraq’s PM Nouri al-Maliki has a lot of struggle to go through. No doubt, just like the ‘Friends of Syria‘ conference that took place in Tunisia last February, this Arab Summit is also not going to yield any specific results. Syria is no longer a part of Arab league and its Foreign Ministry is not going to accept any decision marked in this conference.

BRICS Summit in New Delhi

Talking about BRICS and how all these countries should really kick off an enigmatic and prudent head start in Syria’s case, everything turns sarcastic immediately. This week, Yeshi, a Tibetian revolutionary set himself on fire in New Delhi. Tibetans have been protesting against China’s embark to India as police officials jail them in. So, on one hand, India is trying to play the role of a saint by talking the measures that should be taken to ease of the burden of Syrian opposition rebels. But look whats happening inside New Delhi itself? Its neither retributive nor restorative justice being imparted to Tibetans.

Kofi Annan in China

Turning to UN envoy Kofi Annan, it seems, quite superficially that here comes a man who can make transparent changes. This week, he was in Beijing to talk with Chinese PM Wen Jiabao. Well, China agreed to support the peace plan but is not very clear whether it means complete commitment till the very end or just a casual backing of the peace plan. Annan also visited Russia and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev raise the same noble concerns. Sadly, diplomacy does not work by paying high profile visits. It concerns me why Vladimir Puntin and Kofi Annan did not meet and if they did, why no press conference has been launched for it. Russia indeed is a crafty situation. Well, Russia might be taking slow cautious steps just as Syria did in recognizing Russian Federation after the collapse of USSR.

Eventually, Syria is not Somalia where anarchy persists and the private sector adopts careful and meticulous moves to sustain the economy. The Syrian economy, or perhaps more, the common everyday livelihood of a Syrian has been effected by the US and EU imposed sanctions. Leaving the economy aside, one after another, all the foreign moves like Arab League Summit, the BRICS Summit and even Kofi Annan’s visit would not reap any results and are completely helpless. Well, perhaps this is exactly the right time to ask oneself, anyways ‘what exactly is the result we are searching for’.

Book Review Contemporary Syria: ‘Liberalisation between cold war and cold peace’

‘Contemporary Syria-liberalization between cold war and cold peace’ is a collection of essays from a conference on Economic and Political Change in Syria held in May 1993 at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Eberhard Kienle, a lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics at SOAS had compiled this book. He has also included a brief preface by Patrick Seale which questions the relationship between economic and political liberalisation in Syria during the regime of Hafez al- Assad.

With nine scholarly papers from the speakers at the conference, ‘Contemporary Syria‘ sometimes turns repetitive as every scholar starts with the same fundamental facts. Slowly, the pace is picked, other countries like US,Israel, Russia and Lebanon are bought into debate, economic analysis is done and finally, the paper tends to be different. Over and over again, it is declared that Hafez saw no connection between economic and popular freedoms, encouragement for private sector and progress towards democracy and between increasing cordial relations with US and power sharing along with respect for human rights.

The author could have used a better title for the book because the term ‘Liberalization between cold war and cold peace’ does not make immediate sense. Also, there is very limited, if any, mention of cold war and its effect on Syria in any of the included papers. Syria is exposed as a state where ‘liberalisation‘ is eclipsed by ‘liberation’ from adverse effects of forces of imperialism and Zionism.

Economic liberalization in Syria took place in two distinct parts. Intifah is used as an Arab currency term for defining this process but it was later abandoned after it matched with Sadat’s strategies.

The first process started soon after Hafez took power from 16th November 1970. The private sector started entering into manufacturing and tourism. It also gained importance especially after October War of 1973 as the scope of intifah towards private sector and Western companied opened.  This phase involved political restructuring such as establishment of parliament in 1971 and adoption of a new constitution in 1973. National Progressive Front involving Ba’ath parties, Arab Socialist Union, Syrian Communist Parties, Organisation of Socialist Unionists, was established in 1972.

Sarcastically,  ‘popular democracy’ was the code word where Syrian people had to consent to authoritarian rule which served their interests.

The need for second intifah began after 1978 when wages and agricultural procurement prices were affected by inflation, corruption and nepotism. Intervention in Lebanon was unpopular, several Alawis were assassinated between 1979-1982 and finally, the Hama Massacre of 1982. Even the Commercial bank of Syria had declined to provide private sector with foreign exchange needed for imports. In return, black markets and currency smuggling grew. The government imposed the Law no. 24 of 1986 against smuggling of currency. It was only later in 1991, the Law Number 10. was implemented that really opened spaces for private sector investments.

The business class in Syria is politically powerless and fragmented into ‘entrepreneurial class’, ‘business community’, ‘new class’ and ‘bureaucratic bourgeoisie’.  The book explains how Syria has turned into a ‘Military and Merchant Dictatorship.‘ The manner in which power drifted into the hands of military after 1970s revamped the life of these geographically peripheral, socially ascending and ethnically minority sectors of the society.

Syria’s Hafez Assad has also called himself the ‘Gorbachev‘ of Middle East or perhaps better than him. He states that ‘perestroika’ started in the world not in late 1990s but right when Assad started his ‘Corrective Movement’ in 1970s.

One can also learn the the symptom of ‘disunity‘ ,’ lack of leadership’ and ‘scattered organisational tendencies‘ in the Syrian opposition right now is a definite trait of their past. The National Alliance for the liberation of Syria, established after the Hama event, consisted of Muslim Brotherhood and secular parties.  Most of the opposition parties turned into rivals after dealing with issues like ‘how the opposition should be led’ and ‘concrete attack actions’ that should be adopted.

Taking advantage of ‘Divide and Rule Policy,‘ Hafez implemented an intelligent strategy in Lebanon leading to the signing of ‘Mutual Defence Pact’ in September 1991. This pact gave permission to Syrian military presence in Lebanon. In return, the Law No. 10 of 1991 gave Lebanese entrepreneurs economic assets and significant leverage in Syria.

The hardline on Israel was dependent on Eastern Europe and Republic of Commonwealth of Independent States for economic assistance and advice. The combination of intransigence towards Israel, internal economic recovery and continued ties to former Eastern bloc enabled the coalition for senior military and security officials, Ba’ath Party and central administrative officials and managers of public sector enterprises to retain a predominant position within Syria’s politics. Therefore, no matter how much the private sector develops, it would never be able to cause a political liberalisation in Syria.

In a nutshell, the book gives a descriptive and in-depth insight into Syria’s political and economical scenario. It carries a detailed history of Assad regime which makes it comparatively easier to understand even Bashar al- Assad and his country’s political/economic reality.