ABSTRACT
Political democracy evolved along with the unique historic phenomenon of capitalism, which first occurred in Western Europe. This phenomenon is referred to in the social sciences as the process of modernization. Since the Second World War, two main methodological currents have been employed to understand problems related to socio-political development in the Third World War. The first current, in an attempt at explaining the effects of the process of development in these societies, reduces the debate to internal variables. The second current takes the opposite view in that it deals with the problems facing these societies in their attempt at modernization as external to society, which is located within an international context. An historical analysis of the impact of external factors has been given here; starting with the beginning of the process of state formation in the Mashreq, the fragmentation of Syria by colonial powers has to be the point of departure for the discussion.
