State And Tribes In Syria (informal Alliances And Conflict Patterns)

The book explores the policies of the successive Syrian governments towards the Arab tribes and their reactions to these policies. The book examines the consequences of the relationship between state and tribe since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and its withdrawal from Syria in 1916 until the eruption of the current Syrian civil war.

State and Tribes in Syria: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns explores the policies of the successive Syrian governments towards the Arab tribes and their reactions to these policies. The book examines the consequences of the relationship between state and tribe since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and its withdrawal from Syria in 1916 until the eruption of the current Syrian civil war.

Throughout history and up to the present day, tribalism continues to influence many issues related to governance, conflict and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The book provides a dissection of a crucial, but neglected axis of the current crisis on the relationship between the state and the tribes. The research draws on data gathered through interviews with members of Syrian tribes, as well as written literature in various languages including English, Arabic and French. The book combines the research focus of political scientists and anthropologists by relating the local patterns (communities and tribal affiliations) to the larger system (state institutions and policies) of which they are a part.

State and Tribes in Syria: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns advances our knowledge of an under-studied component of the Syrian society: the tribes. Therefore it is a vital resource for students, scholars and policymakers interested in Syrian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.

Acknowledgements 1. Syrian Tribes: Why is it important to know about them? 2. Tribes and the state: from the rise of Islam to the French Mandate Over Syria 3. Arab tribes and the rise of the nation-state in Syria from 1946 until 1970 4. From enmity to amity: Hafez al-Assad and the Arab tribes in Syria from 1970 until 2000 5. Bashar al-Assad and the Arab tribes in Syria from 2000 until 2010 6. Tribes and tribalism in the Syrian uprising and civil war Conclusion Bibliography

“As Dukhan points out the 2011 Syrian revolution differed from Egypt and Tunisia in one important way, tribalism played a critical role in fermenting the early revolutionary movement. To understand the role tribes played in the Syrian conflict, a historical survey of the relationship between state and tribe is necessary, which is where the study begins. One of the main aim of the books is to help facilitate research into tribal politics – an undertaking that is needed – however it is important not to reduce everything to tribe in Syrian politics. The book does not do this and it is not the book''s intention to do so. It has contributed greatly to our knowledge and will become a resource on Syrian politics.” — Usman Butt, ''The relationship between the state and tribes in Syria'', Review in The New Arab.

“This is an excellent, crystal-clear analysis of a very important yet significantly understudied subject. Dr. Dukhan’s study incisively takes in the grand sweep of history of the relation between Arab tribes and state structures from the birth of Islam (whose relation to tribalism is historically and even theologically inextricable), through the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the French mandate, the rise of Arab socialism and nationalism, the Assad governments, and the protests of 2011 that ultimately led to civil war—and in doing so it provides both new information and a valuable framework of political analysis for understanding how an ancient form of social organization insistently demands our attent