The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria [Hardcover]

David W. Lesch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2005

Is Syria a rogue state? How important is it to the fates of Iraq, Iran, Israel, and Lebanon? Based on unique and extraordinary access to Syria’s President Bashar al-Asad, his circle, and his family, this book tells Syria’s inside story. David W. Lesch presents the essential account of this country and its enigmatic leader at a critical juncture in the history of the Middle East.

Syria has been called the crossroads of civilization for millennia. Lately, however, it is a nation more in the crosshairs than the crossroads. From the U.S. perspective, Syria is on the wrong side of history with respect to Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, the global war on terrorism, and the growth of democracy in the Middle East. Bashar al-Asad assumed the presidency in 2000 after the long reign of his father, Hafiz al-Asad, and soon encountered momentous regional and international events. Bashar’s efforts to integrate his country into this changing environment without being coerced have met with some success and some failure. The fate of Syria, very much tied to its young ophthalmologist-turned-president, will profoundly affect what type of Middle East emerges in the near future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Having gained unprecedented access to the current president of Syria, the author has produced an extraordinarily readable and timely account deserving of a wide audience. Dr. Lesch is to be commended for doing for Bashar al-Asad what Patrick Seale did so well for his father."—James L. Gelvin, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

(James L. Gelvin )

“A first-rate analysis of the domestic and foreign policy challenges facing the Bashar Asad regime, and Asad’s mixed record in meeting these challenges.”—Robert O. Freedman, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Professor of Political Science, Baltimore Hebrew University

(Robert O. Freedman )

". . . a very well-written book . . . flows easily for the reader . . . useful not just for scholars and policymakers . . . but also for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. . . . the book is sure to generate lively debate."—Curtis Ryan, H-Net Reviews

(Curtis Ryan, H-Net Reviews )

About the Author

David W. Lesch is professor at Trinity University in Texas and an expert on Middle Eastern studies. His many books include The Middle East and the United States: A Historical and Political Reassessment.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300109911
• ISBN-13: 978-0300109917
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > History > Middle East > Syria

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 37 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars An apologetic praise of the Syrian regime May 22, 2007

By Hussain Abdul-Hussain

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As in Seale and other Western intellectuals who take off to Syria to write a book there, the generosity and good treatment of the regime toward these people make them fall in love with the regime. You can tell from the very first page when Lesch was very much impressed when Assad replied to his emails.

Needless to say, I couldn't finish this book due to the enormous amount of praise that Lesch hails on the young Syrian president, the Damascus Lion. All that is good in Syria came from Assad and all that is evil came from Syria's enemies in the West. According to this book, the good-willed, kind-hearted Assad is sincerely planning to modernize and democratize Syria, had it not been for the Western anti-Syrian conspiracies that have so far thwarted all such attempts. What an analysis.

Also like the reviewer EDowson (MD) wrote here before me, there is no information about Syria. Perhaps if the author had access to some numbers, like the percentage of people living in poverty while Assad and his group enjoy accumulating enormous wealth, or the number of years anti-Assad opposition figures have spent in the prisons of the Syrian regime, perhaps then Lesch would have changed his opinion a bit. Most important of all, when Lesch writes about the lack of democracy and the nature of the tyrannical regime in Damascus, he does so without even blinking. As if Syria is destined to live under dictatorship and that the dictator himself should be given the chance to renounce his unlimited powers and initiate change. Don't buy this book!

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, but . . . March 30, 2011

By Daisy B.

Format:Hardcover

for a more balanced, up-to-date, first-person account, read IN THE LION'S DEN: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria, by Andrew Tabler, which will be coming out in September 2011. The wait is worth it for the behind-the-scenes perspective. http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Den-Eyewitness-Account-Washingtons/dp/1569768439/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301520629&sr=8-1.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely November 13, 2008

By Sam Farah

Format:Hardcover

A well researched and very informative book about Syria and it's new president. Syria is a strategic country in a very important part of the world. Mr.Lesch shed a bright light into that corner of the world