ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between the authoritarian regime of Hafez al-Assad and the Arab tribes in Syria from 1970 until 2000. In a similar vein to other authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, Hafez al-Assad revived tribalism because it enabled him to divide and rule the Syrian community. He created patronage networks with tribal leaders who became members of the Syrian parliament and state institutions. Hafez al-Assad relied on the rural areas as his support base. Tribes were used to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood to gain influence in the rural areas and to prevent Kurdish attempts to gain autonomy. This led to the tribes, particularly the common ones, rising to political power in Syria alongside the Alawites.
