ABSTRACT
Under the leadership of President Hafez al-Assad, Syria has been transformed from a weak, shaky and vulnerable country into an apparently strong and stable state, a regional power in the Middle East. Indeed, in a country which for generations had been torn by vigorous centrifugal forces and jolted by military coups and countercoups, the Ba’ath Party has been able during the last decade or two to establish an unchallenged, highly centralised reign in Damascus. Similarly, Syria, which for decades had been an object of annexationist tendencies from several of its Arab neighbours and threatened by Israeli military might, has become under Assad’s leadership one of the most influential, assertive powers in the region. Not only has Damascus managed to turn part of Lebanon into its protectorate and part of the PLO into its instrument, Syria has also challenged Egypt’s Arab policy, Iraq’s Fertile Crescent ascendancy, and Israel’s military superiority, and it has threatened Jordan’s rapprochement with Arafat’s PLO. Finally, while securing massive Soviet military and strategic guarantees, but without becoming a Soviet client, Damascus has caused the USA to acknowledge its powerful position in the region.
