The Truth about Syria (Hardcover)

by Barry Rubin (Author) "It is my pleasure to meet with you in the new Middle East," said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in a speech to the Syrian Journalists'..." (more)
Key Phrases: most unstable country, resistance mentality, terrorist offices, United States, Middle East, Golan Heights (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Syria will play a major role in the years to come both as a player and an issue in world politics. This book, written by a veteran student of Middle East affairs, is the most up-to-date and reliable guide available on this subject."--Walter Laqueur, Emeritus Professor, Georgetown University, and author of The Road to War "In this book Barry Rubin takes Syria as a model of Arab tyranny. What might look like gratuitous violence, cruelty, or mendacity serves the purpose of shoring up the power of the one-man ruler and his regime, and is completely predictable. There is now no good reason for the West and its leaders to go along with this dynamic, indeed to feed it regularly. Rubin describes with care, and prescribes with caution. The achievement is as informed as it is humane."--David Pryce-Jones, author of The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs "Barry Rubin's book is a much-needed examination that cuts through the delusions and fantasies currently in vogue about the Assad regime. Rubin nails the nature of Syria's rulers and their behavior, explaining why they are--and will always be--hard-line, chronic exporters of instability."--Tony Badran, Research Fellow (Levant), Foundation for Defense of Democracies "The Truth About Syria . . . is a welcome contribution to the largely unimpressive body of research on modern Syria. Rubin’s well-sourced study provides an unvarnished appraisal of Syrian politics, making no apologies for the brutal internal and destabilizing foreign policies that characterized the 30 year rule of Syrian leader Hafiz Assad and that persist under Hafiz's son and successor Bashar. The Truth About Syria is informative, insightful, and readable, and is an important contribution toward understanding this important but understudied state."--David Schenker, Senior Fellow in Arab Politics, Washington Institute for Near East Policy "Professor Rubin’s book comes at a time when the debate over Syria and its regime is growing throughout Europe and America. He courageously gathers evidence showing the impossibility of dealing with Syria or changing its behavior. The merit of Rubin’s book lies in the thorough dissection of the regime’s psychological conduct, and of the tools this dictatorship has used in the past and uses now to remain in power. Any approach to the Syrian problem that does not take Professor Rubin’s analysis into consideration will be an incomplete one."--Elie Fawaz, Lebanese political analyst “Rubin's book is a breath of fresh air, compared with analysis from other Syria 'experts'...[who] stubbornly insist that Syria can be a U.S. ally...The Truth About Syria is relentless and unapologetic. It shows how Syria is backing Palestinian terrorism and the Iraqi insurgency, murdering Lebanese patriots, lying to American diplomats and committing a host of other offenses that Americans should learn about if they are to prevent their elected representatives from further missions of folly."– Jonathan Schanzer, New York Post  

Product Description

Syria has long presented a serious problem for the Middle East region and U.S. policy. With its mix of competing religious and ethnic groups, radical ideologies, and political repression, it is a 72,000-square-mile time bomb waiting to go off. Yet surprisingly, very little is known about this country and the role it has played in shaping the destiny of the Middle East. In The Truth about Syria, Middle East expert Barry Rubin looks at the critical issues that have made the country the powderkeg of the Middle East and offers an insightful analysis of the effects of recent developments.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403982732
• ISBN-13: 978-1403982735
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #789,688 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book about Syria ever, November 26, 2008

By	Christopher M. Whitman Jr. "Arab Insider" (Marlborough, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Truth about Syria (Paperback)

I study the Middle East extensively and Syria makes up about 80% of my studies. That being said this is by far the worst of them all. Rubin works in Israel and his book was funded with Israeli money and it is exactly that, paid propaganda. His extremely biased assumptions are told as fact and the history of Syria is distorted greatly to the point of recreation just to fit his mold. There are very legitimate complaints about the state of Syria but 99% of the one Rubin bring up are just ridiculous and unfounded. If you would like to read a good book about Syria that is not overly academic in nature I would recommend "Inheriting Syria, Bashar's Trial by Fire." Don't waste your money on this book, it is truly the biggest waste of $10 I have made in a while and I am a college student so you can imagine I waste $10 randomly a lot

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lamentable Disinformation, April 27, 2009

By	Imad Moustapha (Washington DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Truth about Syria (Paperback)

It will be a grossly mistaken judgment to describe the book as full of errors and half facts. The book was conceived not to inform but to disinform. The misery of this negative book is that it does not serve the interests even of cynical pro-Israeli activists. If the author really cared for Israel he should have presented his beloved country with an accurate perspective on Syria. Whether the Israelis like or dislike Syria, they need to understand this country in order to understand what sort of world they are living in. By misinforming the Israelis about Syria, the author is doing Israel a great disservice. He is only empowering the agents of ignorance, bigotry and hatred. Throughout his whole book, the author miserably failed to mention that the cornerstone of Syria's strategy and official policy is: ending occupation and making peace.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars non-academic perspective, a simple good start on Syria, June 11, 2009

By	Adsiz Okur - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Truth about Syria (Paperback)

I don't think we can ever claim that this type of book writing is objective. There may be objective dates and events, but one look at the title "The Truth About..." is enough to suggest that this book is the result of the author's experience of the region. His language is not academic and is filled with expressions that shout "this is my opinion". Therefore, it is pointless to make a judgement about his book based on his ethnic background.

In controversial topics like the one this book tackles, it's important to read as many books as possible from different authors, both academic and non-academic. I think that Barry Rubin has written an easy-read account of various events in Syrian and Middle Eastern recent history with this book.

What I got out of the book was that Syria has been a rogue state with very self-destructive internal policies. For decades, the regime has been run by elite that have focused on meddling into neighboring countries' affairs instead of addressing their own peoples' plights. Furthermore, this has been- possibly on purpose- largely ignored by the West especially by the US. I would argue that, with this book, Barry Rubin has attempted to call on to Western (particularly) American foreign policymakers to take a more effective and pro-active stance against Syria, instead of running after imaginary missions (a.k.a search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq).

I think the gist of the book is that the West has failed to identify the reasons why Palestine and Israel have not settled there differences for so long. And one real reason is interference from Syria.