Syria: A Recent History by John McHugo

by John McHugo

Paperback

About the author

After studying Arabic and Islamic studies at Oxford University and the American University in Cairo in the early 1970s, John McHugo’s career as an international lawyer took him to a number of Arab countries including Egypt, Oman and Bahrain over a period of more than a quarter of a century. He is an honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies at St. Andrews, and a board member of the Council for Arab-British Understanding and the British Egyptian Society. He has also written on legal aspects of the Arab-Israeli dispute. His publications include A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi‘is, A Concise History of the Arabs and Syria: A Recent History.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable account of Syria’s many political storms since the First World War. It gives the reader a wonderful summary of how Arab nationalism led to Assad and other intractable problems.

However, this is not a very balanced read. All of Syria’s main problems are, to McHugo, the fault of Westerners and Zionists. The French and British come for particular blame, despite ruling Syria for less than 50 years. The Ottoman Turks, who misgoverned Syria for 400+ years and showed no sign of leaving, get almost zilch credit for Syria’s systemic flaws. Nor is there a very good explanation for why the reader should fixate on Sykes-Picot dividing the Arabs, when the Arabs themselves clearly broke their one attempt at union when Nasserite Egyptians botched federalism after barely 2 years.

This is good history, but not very fair history. The one-sided empathy that permeates the work weakens it. We are asked to understand why Arab nationalism went down the authoritarian path it has; we are asked to see the perspective of dictators. Ok. None of this grace is given to Zionists (or European imperialists), whose every action is blameworthy. When we are given a brief rundown of the Assad regime’s indefensible brutality after 2011, the brutality between Arabs and Arabs comes out of nowhere. If the author had found a way to blame Israel or Britain, I know he would have.

This is still a useful history book. For one thing, there are few books that cover the full 100 years of Syrian independence. The author also does not excuse atrocities and deserves points for that. He does not defend Baathism or Assad. It is not as if the history of the Middle East needs more excuses for any bad actors, Israeli or Arab. I am glad this book helped me better understand the grievances of Arab nationalists, who were clearly robbed of many fair expectations after 1918.

However, there comes a time when history need more constructive goals, and fewer rehashings of grievances. There are some attempts at analyzing how Syrians can develop more useful democratic political traditions and institutional toleration for women and minorities, but these critical moments are few and far between.

[mariareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well researched, very easy to read and balanced in perspective. I hope to see Damascus one day🌹

[あしずり アート · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good general introduction to Syria since the Ottoman Empire. Brings what was known as "Greater Syria" into focus: what became Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine (and Israel) today. A region divided by France and Britain, with countries that had never previously existed in this form, created through the greed and hubris of the occupying powers. In typical colonial manner, France and Britain set out to sow division among the people. Where there had been rarely any tension between the many different religions and sects, they drove wedges and sowed the seeds of mistrust and hate. Many of the world's modern genocides have been caused in this way by the western colonial powers, at least in part. It is a pattern repeated around the globe and continues now.