Syria's Uprising and the Fracturing of the Levant

As an upbeat and peaceful uprising quickly and brutally descended into a zero-sum civil war, Syria has crumbled from a regional player into an arena in which a multitude of local and foreign actors compete. The volatile regional fault lines that run through Syria have ruptured during this conflict, and the course of events in this fragile yet strategically significant country will profoundly shape the future of the Levant.

Emile Hokayem’s first-hand experience and sober analysis provide up-to-date insight into the myriad opposition groups, the conflicting external interests and the murky calculations of the Assad regime. Tracking the seeds of dissent that laid the groundwork for rebellion, he looks at how Syria’s largely apolitical society mobilised and at the unpredictable dynamics that have been unleashed as the protest movement has radicalised and militarised. In the face of such profound challenges to its four decades of authoritarian rule, Hokayem also assesses the continued resilience of a regime that has escalated beyond the point of return.