The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game

Syrian foreign policy, always opaque, has become an even greater puzzle during the Syrian revolt. Irrespective of the regime’s international isolation in the wake of its violent response to domestic protest, it has paid lip-service to international peace plans while unperturbedly crushing the rebellion. The rare televised appearances of President Bashar Assad have shown a leader detached from reality. Has he, in his own words, ‘gone crazy’? In this book, the long-time Syria analyst and former diplomat, Bente Scheller, contends that Assad’s deadly waiting game is following its own logic: whatever difficulties the Syrian regime has faced, its previous experience has been that it can simply sit out the current crisis. The difference this time is that Syria faces a double crisis, internal and external. While Hafiz Assad, renowned as an astute politician, adapted to new challenges, his son, Bashar, seems to have no alternative plan of action. Scheller’s topical and timely book analyses Syrian foreign policy after the global upheavals of 1989, which was at the time a glorious new beginning for the regime. She shows how Bashar Assad, by ignoring change both inside Syria and in the region, has sacrificed his father’s focus on national security in favour of a policy of regime survival and offers a candid analysis of the successes and shortcomings of Syrian foreign policy in recent years. Scheller thoroughly demonstrates that the Assad regime’s policy was never about ideology but always about longevity. By analysing Syrian foreign policy under Hafiz and Bashar, the author gives us a comprehensive understanding of how the personal character of Syria’s leaders has been reflected in their foreign policy decisions.