ABSTRACT
The net effect of Syria’s economic liberalization (in concert with the recent global economic recession) has been the re-creation of a powerful economic elite that is growing at the expense of the regime’s traditional socio-economic base of support. Moreover, political order and state control have proven to be much more difficult to maintain at this time of transitioning state-society relations. This is particularly the case because the regime is moving away from being a strongly interventionist welfare state, and is thus giving up the levers of control that it formerly wielded over society. And in the existing context of widening gaps between rich and poor, the increasingly autonomous and strong Islamic sector is not only able to attract more members, but can also pursue political change.16 As will be shown hereinafter, a key factor in this process is the high number of young people in Syria.
