ABSTRACT
American policy towards Syria has witnessed over the past few years sudden shifts in different directions: from deep mutual suspicion to what could be described as normal diplomatic dialogue and then, again, to frustration and hostility and even the use of military force. These turnabouts have been the result of the dramatic and bloody events in Lebanon since the mid-1970s. Whereas American-Syrian relations evolved primarily in other contexts — superpower rivalry and the festering Arab-Israeli conflict— since 1981, and more so since 1982, they have been inseparably intertwined with political and strategic developments in Lebanon. Paradoxically it was precisely Syrian involvement in Lebanon since 1975 which created bridges between the two countries and helped, to a limited extent, to smooth relations between Washington and Damascus, but from 1982 onwards led to a straining of relations. Lebanon, and Syria’s involvement there, eventually forced the US to face some disturbing and always frustrating dilemmas regarding the use of American force as an instrument of foreign policy. Yet, it is again the situation in Lebanon that, at the time of writing appears, ironically, to be recreating a new dialogue between the US and Syria. This convoluted interaction between the two countries is all the more fascinating, as it involves relations between a superpower and a small, regional power. As will be argued in this chapter, however, the power that has been more constrained in the use of its military capabilities was the United States.
