It is not common in Spanish historiography, and even less so in the field of Arabism, to find works in which a commitment to dissemination, so widespread in all fields in the Anglo-Saxon environment, takes precedence. Therefore, the recent publication of the work Syria. Revolution, Sectarianism and Jihad (Editorial Los Libros de la Catarata, 2016)The latest work by Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, a specialist in the contemporary Arab world with first-hand knowledge of the country. Despite the cascade of news on the Syrian conflict that floods the world's media every day, confusion persists over a confrontation that has caused the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since the Second World War and has destabilised a region of fragile equilibrium.
The first chapters of the book offer a brief introduction aimed at contextualising the Syrian revolution of 2011. Álvarez-Ossorio explains the main characteristics of the regime inherited by Bashar al-Assad from his father, Hafez, and the policies implemented by the latter after he came to power in a climate of unusual expectation. From the young, foreign-educated Bashar, the Syrian people mainly expected political reforms that would allow for a multi-party system in the country. Instead, the young heir to the throne embarked on a programme of economic liberalisation that mainly benefited the elites and intensified inequality, while tightly controlling the repressive apparatus of a state consumed by bureaucracy and corruption. Other factors, such as the severe drought that devastated the country between 2006 and 2010, hitting agriculture hard, the arrival of 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, and the existence of a young population with no expectations (55% of Syrians registered in 2011 were under 25 years old) culminated in a climate of widespread discontent, which was finally inflamed by the regime's brutal repression of the first signs of popular protest. The 'Syrian Spring' was thus marked by a perverse dynamic. To the cries of 'God, Syria, freedom and nothing else' that flooded the streets of the country's main cities every Friday in spontaneous or planned peaceful anti-regime demonstrations, the regime had only one response: 'Either al-Assad or we burn the country down'.
The following chapters focus precisely on narrating the implementation of a military solution by the regime, which was bent on militarising protests and showing that it was fighting only a jihadist insurgency, thus allowing it to suppress peaceful civilian activism and remain in power. The scorched earth policy then instituted by al-Assad includes torture and disappearances, bombings and sieges, as well as the use of chemical weapons - in breach of the fundamental principles of the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute and other international agreements - of which Álvarez-Ossorio's work offers detailed figures provided by international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International, as well as eyewitness accounts.
From here, the author focuses on explaining with extraordinary clarity the myriad actions, decisions and reactions that have led to the current situation. The armed response of the opposition uprising with the creation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the progressive intervention of regional actors - led by the Gulf states, Iran and its satellites such as Hezbollah -, the gradual Islamisation of the rebel militias, the surprising passivity of the international community... a drift that is illustrated through the transformation of the slogans under which the Syrian opposition called for demonstrations: from "International protection" on 9 September 2011 to "The world has failed us. God give us victory" four years later.
Tellingly, the story becomes more complicated in the sections devoted to the fragmentation of an opposition that has so far lacked a consensus leader. Attempts to unify the opposition ranks, segmented by infighting, a situation aggravated by external interference, became increasingly complicated due to the advance of the war and the devastation of the country, which led to the atomisation of areas under the control of the opposition to the regime and the extension of areas controlled by the al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State and other more or less radical jihadist groups. The chapter on the financing, modus operandi, international composition and ideology of the Islamic State and its expansion in Syria is one of the most interesting and informative in the book. According to Álvarez-Ossorio, the Islamists represent the ideal enemy for al-Assad, as they allow him to present himself as a lesser evil in the face of Jihadist radicalism. The Syrian president even went so far as to release hundreds of Jihadist prisoners, among them the leaders of the main Islamist movements who, in the end, would end up "hijacking the Syrian revolution", financially backed by external allies such as Saudi Arabia.
If the analysis of the fragmentation of the opposition to the Syrian regime helps to unravel the intricacies of the conflict, the magnitude of the conflict can only be understood through the prism of the 'Great Regional Game' or 'progressive regionalisation of the Syrian crisis' - to which one of the last chapters is devoted - which has transformed a civil conflict into a proxy war with the presence of Iranian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Afghan, Pakistani, Turkish, Saudi, Qatari and Emirati troops and militias. To this new "Cold War" must be added the intervention of Russia and the United States, further complicating the situation, which has become a "puzzle with a complex solution", in which no side has sufficient power to impose itself on the others. The humanitarian catastrophe, the scale of which is no more acceptable for being known, occupies the last pages of the book. Not to mention the number of dead and missing, more than two-thirds of the Syrian population has been forced to flee their homes as a result of the war, while poverty affects 85.2% of the population, producing an influx of refugees unprecedented in recent history, and causing serious educational and employment problems in neighbouring countries.
All these factors make the Syrian conflict the "most dangerous crisis for global peace and security since the Second World War", according to Antonio Guterres, UNHCR High Commissioner in September 2016. Álvarez-Ossorio's book is thus a magnificent and necessary introduction to a story that, in the words of its author, has yet to be told and whose consequences are difficult to predict.
Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio visited the headquarters of the Fundación Tres Culturas on 24 January 2016 to discuss his work and offer an analysis of the current situation of the conflict. The meeting was presented by the Arabist and professor at the University of Seville, Emilio González Ferrín. The full event can be seen in the following video.
More information on the presentation can be found at http://www.tresculturas.org/noticia/presentacion-del-libro-siria-revolucion-sectarismo-yihad/
Syria. Revolution, sectarianism and jihad'. from Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio is available at the Fatima Mernissi Library of the Fundación Tres Culturas. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm and Wednesdays from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
For a historical analysis of contemporary Syria and the al-Assad regime, we recommend reading the magazine cultures published by the Fundación Tres Culturas to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Bashar Al-Assad's rise to power, to which Álvarez-Ossorio contributes an article. The full issue is available at the following link: http://revistaculturas.org/archivo/siria-10-anos-de-bashar-al-asad/
Published on 21/04/17