Syria Divided: Patterns of Violence in a Complex Civil War

by Ora Szekely

The civil war in Syria―which has claimed more than 600,000 lives and displaced over half of the country’s population since 2011―is an enormously complex conflict. The combatants include a wide array of state and nonstate forces, both Syrian and international. Adding to the war’s complexity, its many participants understand and explain the war in a range of different ways. For some, it is a fight for dignity and democracy; for others, a sectarian or communal conflict; still others see it as a fight against terrorism or a consequence of foreign interference.

Ora Szekely draws on sources including in-depth interviews, conflict data, and propaganda distributed through social media to examine how these competing narratives have shaped the course of the conflict. Mapping out the broad patterns of violence among combatants and against civilians, Szekely argues that the competition to control the narrative in the eyes of important audiences at home and abroad has not only influenced the choices of participants, it has also―shaped in part by the use of social media―led many to treat warfare as a kind of performance.

An insightful analysis of the forces fueling a brutal civil war, Syria Divided offers new perspectives on the performative aspects of violence, the weaponization of social media, and key features of twenty-first-century warfare.

296 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2023

Reviews

[ctwayfarer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a clinical manner. Essential reading for an understanding of the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria.

I would start with the Appendix where she described the research methodology in detail.

"
Even if Syria were able to return to the prewar political status quo,
massive challenges remain. Half of its population has been displaced,
more than six million of them outside the country.

.....


Many of the activists
involved in setting up the various opposition- oriented media centers
which captured and shared videos of regime air strikes, or, in Raqqa,
American ones, believed that by exposing the reality of what Syrians
were living with, they could inspire— or force— the world to act. This was
ultimately not the case; indeed, many of the Syrians I spoke with for this
project lamented the degree to which the Syrian tragedy has been ignored
by the rest of the world, and the Syrian people largely abandoned, even
though their suffering was visible for anyone who cared to look.
At the same time, in comparison with other historical and contemporary atrocities, the war in Syria has been extraordinarily well documented.

"

[Alexandria Avona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I can find on the topic. It's really hard reading and I'm coming back to study it again and again.