Cycle of Fear Syria's Alawites in War and Peace

by Goldsmith, Leon

• ISBN13: 9781849044684
• ISBN10: 1849044686
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-05-15
• Publisher: Hurst

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Ibn Khaldun's Asabiyya and the Cycle of Fear

A Definition of Asabiyya and its Sectarian Dimension
How a Group Develops High Asabiyya
The Nature and Influence of a Group with High Asabiyya
How a Dynasty Maintains Asabiyya
Variables for the Success of a Dynasty
How a Group's Asabiyya Declines

2. Origins

Foundations of the Sect
Golden Period
Becoming Ibna al-Jabal (Sons of the Mountain)
Fatwas and Officialdom
Ottoman Rule: Continued Alawite Marginalization

3. Integration

Saving Alawite Souls
New Horizons
Resistance and Receptivity
Artificial Integration
Genuine Integration?
Independent Syria and the 'Problem' of Pluralism
Suspicions of Sectarianism
Alawites Ascendant

4. Apogee and Decline

Early Asad Rule
The Muslim Brotherhood Rebellion
The Hama Tragedy
The Spoils of Power
Struggle for the Asad Dynasty
The Alawite-Iranian Axis
Preparing for Succession
5.Rapid Descent

A Modernising Reformer?
New Challenges
Losing Lebanon
Regime Consolidation and Isolation
Alawite Socio-Economic Conditions under Bashar al-Asad
The Precarious Security of the Lebanese Alawites
6. Rumblings of Revolution

Regime Restoration
Elite Infighting
A Confident Bashar al-Asad
Rising Internal Challenges
A Rising Islamic Tide?
Integration at Last?


List of Tables