3 Review(s)

Syria is ruthlessly ruled by the Asad regime whose base of support is the minority Alawites, who the majority Sunnis see as heterodox at best and unIslamic at worst. Absent domestic legitimacy, the regime has sought to divert attention from its own failures to external enemies, not least through its unrelenting refusal to make peace with Israel and its sponsorship of terrorism. Perhaps especially damaging has been its long involvement in Lebanon, where it has aggravated internal divisions and contributed to ongoing strife. That it could be perceived as a stabilizing force in Lebanon, notwithstanding its support for such terrorist groups as Hezbollah and its involvement in criminal activities as hashish smuggling, is a stunning indictment ofDeeb traces in detail, based largely on sources in Arabic, Syria's long destructive involvement in Lebanon, and how the divisions within Lebanon have been manipulated by Syria to prevent rapprochement and peace.Continued instability is shown to be Syria's policy, to increase its importance in the region through the threat of increasing turmoil combined with the promise, rarely realized, of 'solving' the Lebanon problem if Syria's interests were addressed. The unwillingness of other countries, including the United States, to call Syria to task only prolonged the suffering of the Lebanese people.