Coup in Damascus: Husni Al-Za'Im and the Birth of Syrian Military Rule

(Hardback)

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Coup in Damascus is a history of Syrias first military regime. It plots the the fall of Syrias democracy and the rise of its military rulers, particularly Husni al-Zaim, whose brief rule in 1949 represented a profoundly transformative moment for the Syrian nation.
It is a history of the thoughts, intentions and motives of political actors underpinning the events that have marked Syrias history after the first Arab-Israeli war, and focuses mainly on the interaction between local, regional and international actors. Unlike most histories of the modern Middle East that tackle broad intervals and that focus on the sequences of events, this history seeks to reconstruct the thought processes behind the events, and anchor them within the epochs existing political and socioeconomic conditions. It draws on several methodological influences, particularly R.G. Collingwoods 'history as re-enactment of the past'.

Author Bio

Carl Rihan is Lecturer in Public Policy, International Security, and Middle East History at SciencesPo Lille and a registered independent consultant on public affairs (France).