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Syria Burning: ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring
Since its commencement in the upsurge of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Syrian civil war has claimed in excess of 200,000 lives, with an estimated 8 million Syrians, more than a third of the country’s population, forced to flee their homes. A stalemate now exists in the country with the government of Bashar al-Assad maintaining its grip on most of the cities in the west, while large swathes of the countryside in the north and east are under the control of the Islamic fundamentalist groups ISIS and the Nusra Front. The Caliphate announced by ISIS in the summer of 2014 occupies some 35% of the country, as well as vast territory across the border in Iraq.
The nuances of this conflict have never been well-understood in the West, least of all, it seems, by governments in the US and Europe, who, anticipating Assad’s sudden departure, made it a condition of any negotiated settlement. The consequences of that miscalculation, Charles Glass contends in this illuminating and concise survey, have contributed greatly to the unfolding disaster that we witness today.
Glass has reported extensively from the Middle East, and travelled frequently in Syria, over several decades. Here he melds together reportage, analysis and history to provide an accessible overview of the origins and permutations defining the conflict, situating it clearly in the overall crisis of the region. His voice, elegant and concise, humane and richly-informed, is a vital antidote to the sloganizing that shapes so much commentary, and policy, concerning the civil war.
The nuances of this conflict have never been well-understood in the West, least of all, it seems, by governments in the US and Europe, who, anticipating Assad’s sudden departure, made it a condition of any negotiated settlement. The consequences of that miscalculation, Charles Glass contends in this illuminating and concise survey, have contributed greatly to the unfolding disaster that we witness today.
Glass has reported extensively from the Middle East, and travelled frequently in Syria, over several decades. Here he melds together reportage, analysis and history to provide an accessible overview of the origins and permutations defining the conflict, situating it clearly in the overall crisis of the region. His voice, elegant and concise, humane and richly-informed, is a vital antidote to the sloganizing that shapes so much commentary, and policy, concerning the civil war.
156 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2015
24 people are currently reading
1258 people want to read
About the author
Charles Glass
33 books65 followersCharles Glass is an author, journalist and broadcaster, who specializes in the Middle East. He made headlines when taken hostage for 62 days in Lebanon by Shi’a militants in 1987, while writing a book during his time as ABC’s News chief Middle East correspondent. He writes regularly for the New York Review of Books, Harper’s, the London Review of Books and The Spectator. He is the author of Syria Burning, Tribes with Flags, Money for Old Rope, The Tribes Triumphant, The Northern Front, Americans in Paris and Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
September 16, 2015
There is some historical context in the book that readers might find useful, but there is very little about the present crisis that is either accurate, insightful or unbiased. Glass is at pains to conceal the imbalance of forces in Syria and tries to create a false parity by mentioning regime crimes in passing while focusing most of his attention on the opposition's shortcomings. He makes the task easier for himself by lumping the opposition together with ISIS (a monstrous outfit that terrorizes Syrians and which Syrian rebels have been fighting for over two years). Glass also reprises old-conspiracy theories, including a dubiously worded mention of the chemical massacre, which he curiously tries to blame equally on the victims. Glass acknowledges that the uprising was initially peaceful, but, like other ideologues, fails to mention why it got militarized (except suggesting that it was all a foreign conspiracy).
Overall Syria Burning gives the impression a book hastily put together by a publisher to make a quick buck off a hot topic. It neither enlightens nor edifies.
Overall Syria Burning gives the impression a book hastily put together by a publisher to make a quick buck off a hot topic. It neither enlightens nor edifies.
July 4, 2018
Practically everyone has gotten Syria wrong - horribly, catastrophically wrong. This short volume should be required reading for the whole human species. The author is remarkably compassionate and even-handed (especially when you consider he was held hostage by Hezbollah in the eighties), but in the end there's really no getting around just how miserably the world has failed Syria. Not a sin of omission, as someone like Samantha Power might have you believe, but a thousand different sins of commission.
Yes, Assad bears primary responsibility for the bloodshed. His decision to fire on unarmed demonstrators in 2011 is what precipitated the whole catastrophe. That said, the important question is not whether Assad deserves to be president (no), but what is likely to replace him were he to fall. The gruesome answer has come in the form of pogroms against religious minorities in rebel-controlled areas of Syria. Severed Alawite heads on stakes in the public square.
All the major actors end up looking pretty horrible in Glass's telling, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deserves to be singled out. They have a long history of coopting revolutions for their reactionary ends. This goes back to the seventies, when they opted to sponsor Arafat over the more progressive wing of the Palestinian liberation movement. For decades, KSA has spread a reactionary, hate-filled strain of Sunni Islam through the world. Isis was just the latest, most extreme incarnation. They learned their hate from KSA. All in all, a cancer on humanity.
Since the violence in Syria has wound down a bit, Yemen has become the site of the world's greatest humanitarian crisis, and once again Saudi fingerprints are everywhere. This time not as a sponsor of proxy violence, but as direct aggressor. The looming Yemeni holocaust will be entirely on the hands of the Saudis and their backers in the west.
*
In 2014, the US tacitly allied with Assad to destroy ISIS. This is true, and yet we shouldn't let it obscure a couple of other true things.
(1) Isis was always America's Frankenstein monster. It arose as response to the American invasion and occupation of the Iraq, then fed off the feedback loop of chaos with Syria.
moreover,
(2) America did pursue regime change for the first few years after the 2011 uprising in Syria (and has never totally given up on this goal). The myth of Obama's non-intervention needs to be debunked.
After Assad brutally put down the peaceful democratic demonstrators in '11, there arose the armed opposition. These should be seen as two separate phenomena. In contrast to the indigenous, largely secular movement for democracy, the armed rebellion was mainly jihadist and always dependent on outside powers for arms and funding. The CIA worked in concert with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey to arm and train fanatical militias in Syria. Many of these militias would quickly become too insane for their sponsors to control or tolerate. "Proxies" isn't an exact term. Neither Isis nor Nusra Front actually took orders from a foreign government; that doesn't change the fact that they couldn't have existed, or fought the way the did, were it not for outside sponsorship.
The idea that America should have done more to intervene militarily in Syria is dangerous and demonstrably false. The Syrian tragedy is largely that of a nation being treated like a chess board.
Yes, Assad bears primary responsibility for the bloodshed. His decision to fire on unarmed demonstrators in 2011 is what precipitated the whole catastrophe. That said, the important question is not whether Assad deserves to be president (no), but what is likely to replace him were he to fall. The gruesome answer has come in the form of pogroms against religious minorities in rebel-controlled areas of Syria. Severed Alawite heads on stakes in the public square.
All the major actors end up looking pretty horrible in Glass's telling, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deserves to be singled out. They have a long history of coopting revolutions for their reactionary ends. This goes back to the seventies, when they opted to sponsor Arafat over the more progressive wing of the Palestinian liberation movement. For decades, KSA has spread a reactionary, hate-filled strain of Sunni Islam through the world. Isis was just the latest, most extreme incarnation. They learned their hate from KSA. All in all, a cancer on humanity.
Since the violence in Syria has wound down a bit, Yemen has become the site of the world's greatest humanitarian crisis, and once again Saudi fingerprints are everywhere. This time not as a sponsor of proxy violence, but as direct aggressor. The looming Yemeni holocaust will be entirely on the hands of the Saudis and their backers in the west.
*
In 2014, the US tacitly allied with Assad to destroy ISIS. This is true, and yet we shouldn't let it obscure a couple of other true things.
(1) Isis was always America's Frankenstein monster. It arose as response to the American invasion and occupation of the Iraq, then fed off the feedback loop of chaos with Syria.
moreover,
(2) America did pursue regime change for the first few years after the 2011 uprising in Syria (and has never totally given up on this goal). The myth of Obama's non-intervention needs to be debunked.
After Assad brutally put down the peaceful democratic demonstrators in '11, there arose the armed opposition. These should be seen as two separate phenomena. In contrast to the indigenous, largely secular movement for democracy, the armed rebellion was mainly jihadist and always dependent on outside powers for arms and funding. The CIA worked in concert with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey to arm and train fanatical militias in Syria. Many of these militias would quickly become too insane for their sponsors to control or tolerate. "Proxies" isn't an exact term. Neither Isis nor Nusra Front actually took orders from a foreign government; that doesn't change the fact that they couldn't have existed, or fought the way the did, were it not for outside sponsorship.
The idea that America should have done more to intervene militarily in Syria is dangerous and demonstrably false. The Syrian tragedy is largely that of a nation being treated like a chess board.
July 3, 2020
Sometimes I am troubled by the thought that Left-leaning presses regard occasionally regard the discipline of editing as an ideologically conservative pitfall and one conducive to reifying existing power structures.
Perhaps people are just people and being lazy isn't a political statement? Whatever the contributing factors, this is a poorly made book about a complex conflict which has exacted a horrific cost on its people, the region and the world at large.
The thesis asserted by Glass is that Syria is a political not ethnic construct, established by Sykes-Picot for the enrichment of the UK and France disregarding the human populations of the Levant. No one can argue with that. The Assad regimes (father and son) have kept a lid on such, often by brutal means until Western energy policy and Russian/Iranian foreign influence upset the wagon and what many imagined would be a brief brutal struggle (like in Libya; how brief has it been ultimately?) but rather unfolded into a near decade-long nationwide stalemate of atrocity. This is a messy book which does offer a portrait of historic precedents within Syria but lacks the sequence and structure to be persuasive.
Perhaps people are just people and being lazy isn't a political statement? Whatever the contributing factors, this is a poorly made book about a complex conflict which has exacted a horrific cost on its people, the region and the world at large.
The thesis asserted by Glass is that Syria is a political not ethnic construct, established by Sykes-Picot for the enrichment of the UK and France disregarding the human populations of the Levant. No one can argue with that. The Assad regimes (father and son) have kept a lid on such, often by brutal means until Western energy policy and Russian/Iranian foreign influence upset the wagon and what many imagined would be a brief brutal struggle (like in Libya; how brief has it been ultimately?) but rather unfolded into a near decade-long nationwide stalemate of atrocity. This is a messy book which does offer a portrait of historic precedents within Syria but lacks the sequence and structure to be persuasive.
September 27, 2020
This is a pretty hard book to review, because on the one hand it contains a lot of important history but on the other side it barely does what it's supposed to do. When the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011 most people expected it to topple the government within the year, if the previous protests of the Arab Spring were to be believed another Middle Eastern country would convert to a democratic process. Now the country is six years removed from the beginning of the uprising and after a number of complex moves it would appear as though the war could go on for ever.
I do agree with the forward of Syria Burning in that there is a need for a conscience well researched history of the conflict, but this is not it. I would venture to guess that most people don't understand much about the conflict aside from Gary Johnson's Aleppo gaffe and the other stories surrounding the siege of that city so a "Short History of a Catastrophe" would probably be well received and do wonders to educate the populace.
A piece of advice to anyone writing a history book surrounding one topic, actually talk about it. This particular book contains a lot of interesting history about Syria's issue with governmental stability and their place in the middle east, but very little information about the current conflict facing the nation. There is a short timeline at the books beginning but after that Mr. Glass only dedicates a few paragraphs per chapter to the modern conflict and fills the rest of them with history.
The other problem is that he doesn't keep a consistent timeline that moves forward with the years, he jumps around time periods from paragraph to paragraph and aside from a couple of times where he uses this style to compare history to modern day, this writing style only ends up confusing rather than informing. I also noticed a heavy amount of personal opinion in the book when, in my mind, if your going to write a history book your personal opinion should remain out of it. He mentions Israel and Zionists in a slanderous tone multiple times, doesn't get a Sunni opinion of the conflict, and generally espouses what he thinks rather than just reporting.
The book isn't all bad however, I can say that I learned a lot about Syria as a country. I also learned a lot of interesting information about the past issues that Syria has had trying to find a government for it's people. So I would certainly recommend this book if your looking for a brief history of governmental issues in Syria but apart from the short timeline in the beginning and few paragraphs in the main body of the work there is little information here. To me it seems like a rushed attempt to capitalize on a news story when it should have been a book that gives historical context to explain a modern issue.
I do agree with the forward of Syria Burning in that there is a need for a conscience well researched history of the conflict, but this is not it. I would venture to guess that most people don't understand much about the conflict aside from Gary Johnson's Aleppo gaffe and the other stories surrounding the siege of that city so a "Short History of a Catastrophe" would probably be well received and do wonders to educate the populace.
A piece of advice to anyone writing a history book surrounding one topic, actually talk about it. This particular book contains a lot of interesting history about Syria's issue with governmental stability and their place in the middle east, but very little information about the current conflict facing the nation. There is a short timeline at the books beginning but after that Mr. Glass only dedicates a few paragraphs per chapter to the modern conflict and fills the rest of them with history.
The other problem is that he doesn't keep a consistent timeline that moves forward with the years, he jumps around time periods from paragraph to paragraph and aside from a couple of times where he uses this style to compare history to modern day, this writing style only ends up confusing rather than informing. I also noticed a heavy amount of personal opinion in the book when, in my mind, if your going to write a history book your personal opinion should remain out of it. He mentions Israel and Zionists in a slanderous tone multiple times, doesn't get a Sunni opinion of the conflict, and generally espouses what he thinks rather than just reporting.
The book isn't all bad however, I can say that I learned a lot about Syria as a country. I also learned a lot of interesting information about the past issues that Syria has had trying to find a government for it's people. So I would certainly recommend this book if your looking for a brief history of governmental issues in Syria but apart from the short timeline in the beginning and few paragraphs in the main body of the work there is little information here. To me it seems like a rushed attempt to capitalize on a news story when it should have been a book that gives historical context to explain a modern issue.
April 25, 2016
An interesting but clearly biased account of the events in Syria. the author draws some sort of equivalence between the rebels, Isis and the regime where no such equivalence exists...
an example of his bias is the fact that he interviews many people representing different facets of Syrian society but not once does he interviews a Sunni Syrian.
an example of his bias is the fact that he interviews many people representing different facets of Syrian society but not once does he interviews a Sunni Syrian.
April 20, 2017
Getting to the fucking bottom of this now. I tend to trust VERSO so checked their catalogue first. As the title reads, it's a short history of a catastrophe. Way too short for my liking but with many references to other, more in-depth, books on this fucked up war which I will gladly follow up upon. There are a few paras on Syrian class politics and Assad's neoliberal reforms post-2000 to better understand the uprising but, again, way too short to make any real sense of it.
Otherwise, nothing new, really, just a quick chronology of how a popular uprising in spring 2011 descended into civil war courtesy of imperialist and otherwise misguided outside interests by, in no particular order, mainly, the US, UK, France, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. If it wasn't for the 300,000+ dead and a country fucked up for generations to come, it's almost *comical* to read a short summary of how a conflict that demanded a quick diplomatic solution went so wrong and created ISIS in the process and turned a secular (authoritarian) state into one dominated by two regressive fighting theocracies (Sunni Saudi Arabia vs Shiite Iran).
Bottom line two: actually, it doesn't matter whether or not the Government or the opposition are responsible for the most recent chemical attack (both have used chemical attacks in this war), atrocities on all sides, US air-strikes on both the Syrian Government and one of it's enemies, ISIS, just add to the military stalemate and further death and destruction. The West and other regional powers can strike a deal with Assad but not so much with ISIS and other Islamist fundamentalist groups so, again, it's time to move beyond the regime change pipe dream and end this six-year war. Yes, Assad will stay until the Syrian people deal with him, an opportunity the west has also denied the Iraqis and Libyans with the most disastrous consequences.
Otherwise, nothing new, really, just a quick chronology of how a popular uprising in spring 2011 descended into civil war courtesy of imperialist and otherwise misguided outside interests by, in no particular order, mainly, the US, UK, France, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. If it wasn't for the 300,000+ dead and a country fucked up for generations to come, it's almost *comical* to read a short summary of how a conflict that demanded a quick diplomatic solution went so wrong and created ISIS in the process and turned a secular (authoritarian) state into one dominated by two regressive fighting theocracies (Sunni Saudi Arabia vs Shiite Iran).
Bottom line two: actually, it doesn't matter whether or not the Government or the opposition are responsible for the most recent chemical attack (both have used chemical attacks in this war), atrocities on all sides, US air-strikes on both the Syrian Government and one of it's enemies, ISIS, just add to the military stalemate and further death and destruction. The West and other regional powers can strike a deal with Assad but not so much with ISIS and other Islamist fundamentalist groups so, again, it's time to move beyond the regime change pipe dream and end this six-year war. Yes, Assad will stay until the Syrian people deal with him, an opportunity the west has also denied the Iraqis and Libyans with the most disastrous consequences.
February 4, 2016
Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe is a very readable and understandable novel. Most of us in the U.S. don't really know all the details that led up to all the war and refugees. The reporting are inadequate, news is bundled swiftly and moves on. This book takes the reader back to the history behind the society, religion, past conflicts, leaders, and the other historic content to get a feel for why all this came about. The author is very good at explaining these things in a real and sensible way without making it sound like a textbook. He also worked there as a journalist for years and was a hostage at some point in his life so he does know what he is taking about when he writes about the extreme terrorists groups. It is well written and something that fills so many gaps you finds in the mass media news. Great job and thanks.
I received this book for a honest review from NetGalley but it in no way effects my rating or review content.
I received this book for a honest review from NetGalley but it in no way effects my rating or review content.
October 21, 2016
For someone who has been closely following the development of Syria's unfortunate and traumatic battle between the political agenda, sects, and religious ideologies, this book is a treat with the author's post-2011 experience in traveling war-beaten cities of Aleppo and Damascus. Charles Glass shows how the current rebellion is both similar and different from the rebellion of the Syrians against British and French occupation during the First World War about a century ago. We get to see how, in the span of a couple of years, the peaceful non-partisan, non-sectarian and secular protest against a regime that wrongly-implemented Neoliberalism turns into a proxy war between the US and Russia, a hotbed for Sunni fundamentalists triggering upsurge in global terrorism, and a field to exercise their own personal feuds for Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. The tone of dejection is quite vivid as the writer explains how none of the concerned parties are interested in helping civilian Syrians by actively negotiating diplomatic solution to the problem and stopping the disastrous never-ending war.
May 14, 2015
This is a well written book about the war in Syria. The author has traveled in Syria and doe a lot of reporting from the middle east.
March 23, 2018
This is good, very good. A book that doesn't get bogged down in how unpleasant war is and how it makes people do unpleasant things to one another (we know all that already) instead Glass goes for the jugular hacking away the words of moral outrage and phony sympathy. It will always be the case that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it and the history which is presented here is fascinating. No doubt there will be those who object to this approach but Glass forms a clear line between the meddling of France and Britain as they carved new bits of empire out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire, subsequent US meddling to bring about successive regime changes and where we are today. The real miracle of Syria is that is has remained a relatively peaceful, secular society in which a diverse range of ethnic and religious communities have thrived side by side (much to the annoyance of Syrias neighbours). Glass argues convincingly that the only real difference between Assad and other leaders in the region is his ability to get under the skin of the West, his means of rule are not that different from those of leaders lauded and loved by the West (indeed Assad has at times - when it so suited - been considered an ally and trusted to deal with Islamists delivered to him by the USA, no questions asked).
Glass is scathing of the sudden coalition of "Friends of Syria" all egar to liberate Syria and come to the aid of its people. As he points out these friends have been noticeable by their absence when it came to issues like Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and the expulsion of thousands of Syrians from their homes. It is friends like these which Glass shows have driven Syrians back towards support for the regime because they know the "Friends of Syria" have plans for the people of Syria that will bury their secular and diverse state for good. Already Glass says it is unlikely that the sectarianism that the invaders have encouraged will be easily undone. Yet again America, Britain and France have become embroiled in a region they do not understand but would love to control (the expulsion of Russia from the region also being a historic battle) and again they have supported a war by proxies encouraging Saudi Arabia and its allies to flood weapons to the unvetted hotch potch of Islamists under their flags of convenience. As the USA suffered blow-back from its ill thought out war against the USSR in Afghanistan so the same in Iraq and Syria with the rise of ISIS which has made both al-Qaida and the Khmer Rouge look soft by comparison. Glass examines in detail the rebellion against French rule in the early 20th century, it is interesting to read of the French tactics in tackling the rebellion - bombardment of the ancient souqs and residential quarters, martial law, summary execution of any civilian found armed, use of aircraft and artillery to pound rebel areas of the city, execution of captured rebels and those protecting them, machine gunning civilians, looting homes, alleged use of chemical weapons and just to deter others dragging the corpses of dead rebels around the city behind camels. All sounds so 21st century.
The peaceful protests that sparked the catastrophe that has consumed Syria could easily have been handled differently (as many in the past could) and maybe what followed could have been avoided. The revolution was "defeated from within, albeit with much assistance from outside powers motivated by anything but the good of the Syrian people". Ironically many who would have liked to see the Assad regime overthrown now see his continuation as the best hope for a secular peaceful Syria - if not the freer Syria they had naively thought was a possibility. What would probably, left alone, probably have ended as another short bloody defeat for a frustrated collection of Syrian dissidents has instead ripped the country apart, destroyed priceless artifacts of human civilisation, wrecked the economy, caused sectarian strife and division and shows no sign of any political liberalisation (which would probably only give advantage to the dark forces trying to overthrow Assad anyway). This is an excellent and refreshing read on a subject which is rapidly drowning in analysis and argument.
Glass is scathing of the sudden coalition of "Friends of Syria" all egar to liberate Syria and come to the aid of its people. As he points out these friends have been noticeable by their absence when it came to issues like Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and the expulsion of thousands of Syrians from their homes. It is friends like these which Glass shows have driven Syrians back towards support for the regime because they know the "Friends of Syria" have plans for the people of Syria that will bury their secular and diverse state for good. Already Glass says it is unlikely that the sectarianism that the invaders have encouraged will be easily undone. Yet again America, Britain and France have become embroiled in a region they do not understand but would love to control (the expulsion of Russia from the region also being a historic battle) and again they have supported a war by proxies encouraging Saudi Arabia and its allies to flood weapons to the unvetted hotch potch of Islamists under their flags of convenience. As the USA suffered blow-back from its ill thought out war against the USSR in Afghanistan so the same in Iraq and Syria with the rise of ISIS which has made both al-Qaida and the Khmer Rouge look soft by comparison. Glass examines in detail the rebellion against French rule in the early 20th century, it is interesting to read of the French tactics in tackling the rebellion - bombardment of the ancient souqs and residential quarters, martial law, summary execution of any civilian found armed, use of aircraft and artillery to pound rebel areas of the city, execution of captured rebels and those protecting them, machine gunning civilians, looting homes, alleged use of chemical weapons and just to deter others dragging the corpses of dead rebels around the city behind camels. All sounds so 21st century.
The peaceful protests that sparked the catastrophe that has consumed Syria could easily have been handled differently (as many in the past could) and maybe what followed could have been avoided. The revolution was "defeated from within, albeit with much assistance from outside powers motivated by anything but the good of the Syrian people". Ironically many who would have liked to see the Assad regime overthrown now see his continuation as the best hope for a secular peaceful Syria - if not the freer Syria they had naively thought was a possibility. What would probably, left alone, probably have ended as another short bloody defeat for a frustrated collection of Syrian dissidents has instead ripped the country apart, destroyed priceless artifacts of human civilisation, wrecked the economy, caused sectarian strife and division and shows no sign of any political liberalisation (which would probably only give advantage to the dark forces trying to overthrow Assad anyway). This is an excellent and refreshing read on a subject which is rapidly drowning in analysis and argument.
May 25, 2020
As is written in a forward to this book by Patrick Cockburn:
"Few events in recent history have been subjected to so much inadequate and partial reporting ... It is difficult to write sensibly and with balance about a struggle in which all sides, including much of the media, is so partisan".
The prominence of this book is that it looks to this tragedy from a perspective that is not covered by the vast but monotone and partisan coverage of this tragedy by mainstream media.
"Few events in recent history have been subjected to so much inadequate and partial reporting ... It is difficult to write sensibly and with balance about a struggle in which all sides, including much of the media, is so partisan".
The prominence of this book is that it looks to this tragedy from a perspective that is not covered by the vast but monotone and partisan coverage of this tragedy by mainstream media.
April 28, 2017
A quick read to get a decent background on the ongoing crisis in Syria and the historic origins. Good insight on the impact of WW1 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire in that region. The only downside is this author has some serious biases which I disagree with - he is very anti-Israeli. So a good read, but decide for yourself what you think is right.
December 5, 2015
Excellent overview. Easy to read. Vivid personal anecdotes
July 19, 2017
I thought this was a really helpful primer of all the various interests at play in Syria. It's not meant to be comprehensive but rather serves as a jumping off point for further reading.
November 1, 2017
Very unorganized and spoke more in detail of the revolutions in Syria prior to the current war than the current war itself.
May 26, 2025
Spoiler alert: the issues in the Middle East are pretty much ALL the fault of European colonialists.
Period.
End of story? No: there is nuance and complexity for sure and this slim volume is a great primer.
But again, as a German who lived in the US (and has family there) for decades, it is yet again a reminder how "my people" & their buddies (Britain, France, some smaller entities) who LOVE to go ON AND ON AND ON about "Western values" have for over 100 years at least had an incredibly BAD influence on a region full of history, art, culture, inclusion (I did a piece on a virtual project in Second Life called "Al Andalus" which aimed to replicate religious diversity on the Iberian Peninsula of old, just with cool avatars) and this makes me real MAD sometimes ....
Alas, hope springs eternal and we can live an alternative life everyday in terms of interacting with openness, interest, respect towards our fellow human beings from different lands, refugees and otherwise.
Love = a good THING!
Period.
End of story? No: there is nuance and complexity for sure and this slim volume is a great primer.
But again, as a German who lived in the US (and has family there) for decades, it is yet again a reminder how "my people" & their buddies (Britain, France, some smaller entities) who LOVE to go ON AND ON AND ON about "Western values" have for over 100 years at least had an incredibly BAD influence on a region full of history, art, culture, inclusion (I did a piece on a virtual project in Second Life called "Al Andalus" which aimed to replicate religious diversity on the Iberian Peninsula of old, just with cool avatars) and this makes me real MAD sometimes ....
Alas, hope springs eternal and we can live an alternative life everyday in terms of interacting with openness, interest, respect towards our fellow human beings from different lands, refugees and otherwise.
Love = a good THING!
September 17, 2020
Exactly what it proclaimed to be, giving an insight into the spark that generated the fire.
The only down side was the ‘lay-out’ which made me find some of the arguments and reasoning a bit difficult to follow. I do now feel though that I have a small understanding that can be built on and further explored.
The only down side was the ‘lay-out’ which made me find some of the arguments and reasoning a bit difficult to follow. I do now feel though that I have a small understanding that can be built on and further explored.
August 24, 2016
This was alright. I mean let's start with writing history is always difficult. It's hard to be fair and equal while building interest, and you are limited by the resources available.
That said, let's start with a couple cons. The book's timeline often jumps back and forth. Especially with historical non-fiction. Glass does not do it well enough. I was often a bit lost on the time period he was discussing and it took extra effort to try to get a clear timeline on the history.
Additionally, he offers no clear narratives on each of the factions in Syria. There are a lot of different groups, and even within groups you have multiple theses. But adding a few would give personal context to the desires of the group. Maybe an interview with a young ISIS member or young adults who are trapped.
There's no real coverage on the refugee crisis, which should be a reoccurring theme through all the violence. The refugees run for different reasons, but it's caused by the war. No doubt every wave of fighting would lead to displaced Syrians as well as many who flee incoming or immediate violence. As one of the larger humanitarian issues, Glass had an opportunity to expose the real causes and costs with appropriate emphasis on the plight of the victims.
Criticisms aside, I definitely learned more about the US, French, Ottoman, and British influences in Syria. How vastly different ethnics groups were put together into one nation flag by other national powers. I see more about how Assad holds his power and where the simmering discontent meets ethnic prejudice meets disenfranchisement.
I understand better context for Turkey and Saudi Arabia's constant pressure and meddling in Syria's affairs.
I also find hope in the stories and rich history of culture and advancement that you'd be hard pressed to find any reference too in mainstream media. There are no easy answers, and wayyyy to many hands in the pot. Lots of hate and violence and ideologies with amplifying effect from international nations doesn't show a quick result either. But if Syrian citizens can continue to shoulder forth with hope for a better tomorrow, than who are we to be pessimistic?
That said, let's start with a couple cons. The book's timeline often jumps back and forth. Especially with historical non-fiction. Glass does not do it well enough. I was often a bit lost on the time period he was discussing and it took extra effort to try to get a clear timeline on the history.
Additionally, he offers no clear narratives on each of the factions in Syria. There are a lot of different groups, and even within groups you have multiple theses. But adding a few would give personal context to the desires of the group. Maybe an interview with a young ISIS member or young adults who are trapped.
There's no real coverage on the refugee crisis, which should be a reoccurring theme through all the violence. The refugees run for different reasons, but it's caused by the war. No doubt every wave of fighting would lead to displaced Syrians as well as many who flee incoming or immediate violence. As one of the larger humanitarian issues, Glass had an opportunity to expose the real causes and costs with appropriate emphasis on the plight of the victims.
Criticisms aside, I definitely learned more about the US, French, Ottoman, and British influences in Syria. How vastly different ethnics groups were put together into one nation flag by other national powers. I see more about how Assad holds his power and where the simmering discontent meets ethnic prejudice meets disenfranchisement.
I understand better context for Turkey and Saudi Arabia's constant pressure and meddling in Syria's affairs.
I also find hope in the stories and rich history of culture and advancement that you'd be hard pressed to find any reference too in mainstream media. There are no easy answers, and wayyyy to many hands in the pot. Lots of hate and violence and ideologies with amplifying effect from international nations doesn't show a quick result either. But if Syrian citizens can continue to shoulder forth with hope for a better tomorrow, than who are we to be pessimistic?
March 1, 2018
"The Syria was is a free-for-all in which everyone pursues his own interests to the detriment of the Syrians themselves."
Charles Glass writes a helpful breakdown on the complicated intricacies of the war in Syria from 2011-2016. It is discouraging to highlight the aspect of "proxy wars" and the vested interests nations such as the United States, France, Russia, Iran, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have taken in accidentally and intentionally aiding this seemingly endless war. This book also provides insight to the revolutionary history of the Syrian people, and the amalgam of cultures and religions that make for such a diverse and split population. Although it is clear that the Assad regime will systematically destroy any aspect of Syrian life to retain power (and is being continuously aided and abetted by Russia and Iran), it is too complicated of a conflict with too many various parties, interests, and sects to make for clear progress. The rebels have been aided for by the FSA and the Kurds, however, ISIS, Hezbollah and other terrorists organizations have also aligned themselves as "rebels" in the Assad regime. The Kurds have experienced the most success in eliminating ISIS territory, currently aided with weaponry from the U.S. - however, Turkey has begun attacking the Kurds. There are too many disputes within disputes. The implication of western occupation does not seem to be desired by the Syrian people experiencing this armed conflict - much of the population has already felt as if their country has already been occupied by Iran since 2011. The United States' expectation of a quick toppling of the Assad regime into a new government, such as the rebellions of the Arab spring that resulted in Egypt and Libya, has seemed far-fetched for far too long. How will Syria find stability as a country when they can't maintain stability from one side or angle? Diplomacy seems better than war.
...
"One step would not involve any combat at all: sever the supply route between IS and the outside world through Turkey."
Charles Glass writes a helpful breakdown on the complicated intricacies of the war in Syria from 2011-2016. It is discouraging to highlight the aspect of "proxy wars" and the vested interests nations such as the United States, France, Russia, Iran, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have taken in accidentally and intentionally aiding this seemingly endless war. This book also provides insight to the revolutionary history of the Syrian people, and the amalgam of cultures and religions that make for such a diverse and split population. Although it is clear that the Assad regime will systematically destroy any aspect of Syrian life to retain power (and is being continuously aided and abetted by Russia and Iran), it is too complicated of a conflict with too many various parties, interests, and sects to make for clear progress. The rebels have been aided for by the FSA and the Kurds, however, ISIS, Hezbollah and other terrorists organizations have also aligned themselves as "rebels" in the Assad regime. The Kurds have experienced the most success in eliminating ISIS territory, currently aided with weaponry from the U.S. - however, Turkey has begun attacking the Kurds. There are too many disputes within disputes. The implication of western occupation does not seem to be desired by the Syrian people experiencing this armed conflict - much of the population has already felt as if their country has already been occupied by Iran since 2011. The United States' expectation of a quick toppling of the Assad regime into a new government, such as the rebellions of the Arab spring that resulted in Egypt and Libya, has seemed far-fetched for far too long. How will Syria find stability as a country when they can't maintain stability from one side or angle? Diplomacy seems better than war.
...
"One step would not involve any combat at all: sever the supply route between IS and the outside world through Turkey."
December 24, 2024
I recently asked a Syrian and Palestinian-American academic friend with specialization in the Middle East if she could recommend some good books to get an understanding of what is happening in Syria. Her response was a roundabout "No", explaining that there are so many different interests at play in Syria and the issue so complex that no book can do it justice. Each book she has read, she explains, comes from a particular ideological framework. I ordered a few different books and started on the one that arrived first, Charles Glass's Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe.
A "short history" of any complex problem is bound to have its shortcomings and Glass's book is no exception. An American of Irish and Lebanese decent, Glass was for a decade, from 1983 to 1993, chief Middle East correspondent for ABC News. His work is couched in a Western media framework, but is more critical of US government and other foreign intervention in the region than we would often find in works of other representatives of Western media (hence its publication by Verso).
For Glass, many of the problems that the region was facing at the time of publication (2016) and today - after the fall of Assad regime - are the direct result of Western interference, in this case chiefly the aftermath of the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement, which saw France and Britain divide up much of the former Ottoman Empire in the Middle East into various sections placed under either French or British administrative rule. Ethnic and religious groups that had lived in relative harmony for hundreds of years were soon pitted against one another, as has often been the case when Europe has interfered in a region - whether it be in Africa, Asia, the Middle East or the Americas.
The Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 saw various factions rise up together against French Administration and in the years since there has been an ever-greater fracturing of Syria into different groups - Christians, Alawites, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, etc. These sectarian lines were deepened during the rule of Hafez al-Assad and then his son, Bashar, though with some offer of security even if lacking in freedom.
During the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, the Assad regime - which Glass characterizes as secular and with a relatively high level of material comfort (comparatively) to many other governments in the region, if low in terms of political freedoms - faced perhaps its greatest challenge to date. In 2011, protesters in Dera marched in the streets calling for a release of a dozen or so teens who had been arrested and tortured for putting up graffiti that was critical of the Assad regime. The Assad government responded with bullets, killing several dozen. From there, tensions escalated over the course of the next several years, sectarian divides becoming more entrenched, neighbor fighting against neighbor in a brutal civil war. Many were killed. Many more left the country. Many became evermore suspect of their neighbors and anyone deemed to be "other." The regime, in response to threats to its rule, became increasingly suspect and relied on brutal tactics to protect itself and maintain its grip. Various nations, including the US, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and a smattering of European countries, tried to get their hands in on the action, each promoting their own agenda and ignoring the will and interest of the Syrian people.
Glass predicted that the Assad regime would continue to face numerous challenges and would eventually fall, probably within 20 years. It took less than 10 years. The fears Glass and many of those he interviewed remain as alive today as ever. There are certainly Assadists and those who believe the former government was deserving of some criticism, but who favored the secular state over the alternative that they feared would come next. Many Syrian Christians recognized a level of protection under Assad, and many have been deeply critical of HTS and other groups. There are many who believed in a peaceful removal of Assad from power - which may have been possible, as Noam Chomsky explains, had it not been for the deepening rift in relations between the US and Russia, really starting under the Obama years. As with many revolutions, the masses are uninvolved with the change in affairs, many apolitical, preferring security to freedom.
During the early years of the Civil War, many civilians it seems wanted a return to normalcy more than anything else, fearing the religious fanaticism of groups like ISIS who had taken control of the revolution. What the future holds for Syria is uncertain and among my Syrian and Syrian-American friends, reactions range from extremely optimistic to extremely pessimistic, with the latter fearing that Syria will go the direction of Iraq or Libya and/or will continue to be Balkanized, seeing Syria broken up into several states.
There were certainly tensions and differences in the days of the Ottomans, but the lines drawn in the sand were not so deeply drawn. Many of my ancestors came from former Ottoman countries. The Albanian tribe that my great-grandmother came from was a mélange of Catholics and Muslims (many having converted to Islam in the days of the Ottomans). Yesterday for Christmas, I made a cookie recipe that has been in my family for generations, and which almost every former Ottoman country today has some variation of. When my Albanian and Croatian ancestors from Kosovo came to the United States, their form of dress was very traditional, bearing the influence of the Ottomans. As in Syria, my distant relatives in Kosovo, faced years of sectarian violence and oppression. As with Syria, many of the civilians on the ground just want to live their lives in peace. Most of their voices go unheard, their words silenced by the firing of bullets and the detonation of bombs.
In attempting to write this review of this short history, I realize, that the issues in Syria are so complex that I cannot really do them justice. I feel there is much I should have said that I didn't, much that I should have elaborated on, some things that can be misconstrued due to lack of context and explanation. That said, I think Glass did a fine job of summarizing an extremely complex issue in 170 pages, but not without his own share of oversight and bias - though I think that is inevitable any time a human sits down to write about a complex social, economic or political issue. While I have much interest to continue reading about the history of Syria and the roots of its conflict, I will consider this first book a dipping in of my toes into unfathomably deep waters. While I feel like I learned a lot from this slim work, I still have much to research, many more voices to hear. Ancora imparo. Always.
A "short history" of any complex problem is bound to have its shortcomings and Glass's book is no exception. An American of Irish and Lebanese decent, Glass was for a decade, from 1983 to 1993, chief Middle East correspondent for ABC News. His work is couched in a Western media framework, but is more critical of US government and other foreign intervention in the region than we would often find in works of other representatives of Western media (hence its publication by Verso).
For Glass, many of the problems that the region was facing at the time of publication (2016) and today - after the fall of Assad regime - are the direct result of Western interference, in this case chiefly the aftermath of the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement, which saw France and Britain divide up much of the former Ottoman Empire in the Middle East into various sections placed under either French or British administrative rule. Ethnic and religious groups that had lived in relative harmony for hundreds of years were soon pitted against one another, as has often been the case when Europe has interfered in a region - whether it be in Africa, Asia, the Middle East or the Americas.
The Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 saw various factions rise up together against French Administration and in the years since there has been an ever-greater fracturing of Syria into different groups - Christians, Alawites, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, etc. These sectarian lines were deepened during the rule of Hafez al-Assad and then his son, Bashar, though with some offer of security even if lacking in freedom.
During the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, the Assad regime - which Glass characterizes as secular and with a relatively high level of material comfort (comparatively) to many other governments in the region, if low in terms of political freedoms - faced perhaps its greatest challenge to date. In 2011, protesters in Dera marched in the streets calling for a release of a dozen or so teens who had been arrested and tortured for putting up graffiti that was critical of the Assad regime. The Assad government responded with bullets, killing several dozen. From there, tensions escalated over the course of the next several years, sectarian divides becoming more entrenched, neighbor fighting against neighbor in a brutal civil war. Many were killed. Many more left the country. Many became evermore suspect of their neighbors and anyone deemed to be "other." The regime, in response to threats to its rule, became increasingly suspect and relied on brutal tactics to protect itself and maintain its grip. Various nations, including the US, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and a smattering of European countries, tried to get their hands in on the action, each promoting their own agenda and ignoring the will and interest of the Syrian people.
Glass predicted that the Assad regime would continue to face numerous challenges and would eventually fall, probably within 20 years. It took less than 10 years. The fears Glass and many of those he interviewed remain as alive today as ever. There are certainly Assadists and those who believe the former government was deserving of some criticism, but who favored the secular state over the alternative that they feared would come next. Many Syrian Christians recognized a level of protection under Assad, and many have been deeply critical of HTS and other groups. There are many who believed in a peaceful removal of Assad from power - which may have been possible, as Noam Chomsky explains, had it not been for the deepening rift in relations between the US and Russia, really starting under the Obama years. As with many revolutions, the masses are uninvolved with the change in affairs, many apolitical, preferring security to freedom.
During the early years of the Civil War, many civilians it seems wanted a return to normalcy more than anything else, fearing the religious fanaticism of groups like ISIS who had taken control of the revolution. What the future holds for Syria is uncertain and among my Syrian and Syrian-American friends, reactions range from extremely optimistic to extremely pessimistic, with the latter fearing that Syria will go the direction of Iraq or Libya and/or will continue to be Balkanized, seeing Syria broken up into several states.
There were certainly tensions and differences in the days of the Ottomans, but the lines drawn in the sand were not so deeply drawn. Many of my ancestors came from former Ottoman countries. The Albanian tribe that my great-grandmother came from was a mélange of Catholics and Muslims (many having converted to Islam in the days of the Ottomans). Yesterday for Christmas, I made a cookie recipe that has been in my family for generations, and which almost every former Ottoman country today has some variation of. When my Albanian and Croatian ancestors from Kosovo came to the United States, their form of dress was very traditional, bearing the influence of the Ottomans. As in Syria, my distant relatives in Kosovo, faced years of sectarian violence and oppression. As with Syria, many of the civilians on the ground just want to live their lives in peace. Most of their voices go unheard, their words silenced by the firing of bullets and the detonation of bombs.
In attempting to write this review of this short history, I realize, that the issues in Syria are so complex that I cannot really do them justice. I feel there is much I should have said that I didn't, much that I should have elaborated on, some things that can be misconstrued due to lack of context and explanation. That said, I think Glass did a fine job of summarizing an extremely complex issue in 170 pages, but not without his own share of oversight and bias - though I think that is inevitable any time a human sits down to write about a complex social, economic or political issue. While I have much interest to continue reading about the history of Syria and the roots of its conflict, I will consider this first book a dipping in of my toes into unfathomably deep waters. While I feel like I learned a lot from this slim work, I still have much to research, many more voices to hear. Ancora imparo. Always.
March 11, 2016
How sad and hopeless this book is! and probably how true... It says loud things we don't want to believe. That so far, Assad, is the only hope for minorities to survive. That the western world believed for much too long that non respect of human rights was linked to capitalism and money -to discover finally that murder and violence are the same, no matter which side of the political checker they come from. Yes, ISIL did not matter as long as the problems they created and the people they killed were "only" in Iraq. Now that IS attacks European states, they must be destroyed.
It reminds me so much of the blindness the West had during the Viet Nam war t gets scary.
Glass synthesizes the history of Syria during the past 100 years without any complacency. A small country too small to be really powerful and pulled back with a leash every time it tried to improve the way its citizens lived. A coveted place, because of oil, and its place on the map. An assembly of historical sites, older than the pyramids.
The awful part is that the Arab spring has damaged and not improved all the countries in which it blossomed.. Revolutions are not usually pacific, even if they begin with the best intentions. And to change the world you live in, you need money which makes it even more complicated.
I remember a time when people believed the middle east would settle. Well, just the opposite happened.
Glass does not foresee the future -neither do I, but it looks like a long road ahead before Syria stops burning. We all carry a small part of responsibility in that matter...
It reminds me so much of the blindness the West had during the Viet Nam war t gets scary.
Glass synthesizes the history of Syria during the past 100 years without any complacency. A small country too small to be really powerful and pulled back with a leash every time it tried to improve the way its citizens lived. A coveted place, because of oil, and its place on the map. An assembly of historical sites, older than the pyramids.
The awful part is that the Arab spring has damaged and not improved all the countries in which it blossomed.. Revolutions are not usually pacific, even if they begin with the best intentions. And to change the world you live in, you need money which makes it even more complicated.
I remember a time when people believed the middle east would settle. Well, just the opposite happened.
Glass does not foresee the future -neither do I, but it looks like a long road ahead before Syria stops burning. We all carry a small part of responsibility in that matter...
February 6, 2016
Syria Burning is exactly what it says it is, A brief History. It's actually more of an overview of recent events with some history thrown in to round out the subject. I am not an expert on Syria or the Middle East. I know enough to understand that the issues are quite convoluted and stem from misguided or inept policies of outside parties. As a brief overview Syria Burning works well. For someone who is looking for a very basic understanding I could recommend this as a starting point. For any type of depth you would need to go elsewhere
As to how it was written I found the book somewhat disjointed. It jumps from the early part of the 20th century to just a few years ago, then back in a somewhat random manner. A true continuity from the Ottoman Empire to the present crisis is lacking, particularly for the casual reader. Knowing of the partitioning of the entire Middle East by the victors of the 2 world wars, knowing of the rule of the Ottoman Empire, even knowing the tribal nature of the area helped me to glean more than may be apparent to those looking to find an understanding of today's problems.
I would recommend Syria Burning with the caveat of "be prepared to leave with questions"
As to how it was written I found the book somewhat disjointed. It jumps from the early part of the 20th century to just a few years ago, then back in a somewhat random manner. A true continuity from the Ottoman Empire to the present crisis is lacking, particularly for the casual reader. Knowing of the partitioning of the entire Middle East by the victors of the 2 world wars, knowing of the rule of the Ottoman Empire, even knowing the tribal nature of the area helped me to glean more than may be apparent to those looking to find an understanding of today's problems.
I would recommend Syria Burning with the caveat of "be prepared to leave with questions"
August 7, 2016
This is the first book I read on the crisis in Syria, and for that reason found it very accessible because he starts from the scratch and takes the reader along. The current revolution/ rebellion (depending on the side you are on) is placed within the context of previous such events in Syria's history, that leaves the reader with the sense of how less we have actually learnt from history. His basic argument seems to be that foreign involvement has made the conflict worse, because foreign allies on both sides are using the revolution to fight their own proxy wars. His concern however is on the human cost of this political play, because at the hands of these players on both sides it's the civilians who are constantly suffering. No one is ready to negotiate, and with the involvement of IS into this, foreign allies are pouring in more arms which is not going to help, rather maintenance of peaceful environ in Syria is the only way to stop IS he suggests. --- I would suggest reading this book alongside newspaper reports from varied sources to get a current picture and full scale of the crisis, and reading more books for other view points, but for a beginner this is a great place to start and appears very balanced and sensitively written.
September 9, 2016
A brief but fantastic clear-eyed account of the events that led to the ongoing civil war in Syria. Charles Glass (a journalist that has certainly earned his stripes for his decades of reporting in the region) makes a compelling argument that the meddling of foreign powers -- Arab, Russian, and Western -- has caused the morphing of a local rebellion against an oppressive government into an intractable, full-scale proxy war in which no winner is likely to emerge, possibly for years.
To do this, Glass weaves together a number of elements from history: the Syrian rebellion against the French nearly a century ago, the events of the Lebanese civil war, and the Iranian Revolution to point out that while foreign powers treat Middle Eastern countries like Syria as a plaything, ordinary civilians suffer and entire generations are wiped out or disenfranchised.
Sadly, none of the powers involved seem inclined to back down, so the end result is likely a negotiated stalemate some years -- perhaps decades from now -- after which the social fabric of the country has been entirely destroyed.
To do this, Glass weaves together a number of elements from history: the Syrian rebellion against the French nearly a century ago, the events of the Lebanese civil war, and the Iranian Revolution to point out that while foreign powers treat Middle Eastern countries like Syria as a plaything, ordinary civilians suffer and entire generations are wiped out or disenfranchised.
Sadly, none of the powers involved seem inclined to back down, so the end result is likely a negotiated stalemate some years -- perhaps decades from now -- after which the social fabric of the country has been entirely destroyed.
July 3, 2017
somebody should really write the book that this is supposed to be. that probably won't be possible til after this whole thing's over, but that won't stop publishers from churning these books out that bring baselessly authoritative tones and preconceived narratives to a fluid, chaotic situation. there is some good stuff here, actually, (probably,) but it's a total mess: the half-history half-present thing is incoherent, not illuminating; there are claims that, lacking grounding, read as insinuations, and other ones that just sit there unconnected to any point, narrative or argument; and broadly speaking i'm not even really sure what glass even thinks about the situation except that it's a shitshow in which everybody shares the substantial blame equally, every ideology is equally malignant and the entire business of mass revolt against dictatorial rule is doomed so don't try ever. i dunno it's a bunch of horseshit really.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2016
I read this in a day. It's an astonishing account of what is happening in Syria set in some kind of historical and political context. As the foreword says, "The war in Syria has long needed a good book to explain what and why it is happening. Few events in recent history have been subjected to so much inadequate reporting." This book fills that hole.
I'm sure that the relative brevity means that some of the political nuance is lost, but for a newcomer to the wider picture (like me), it was well pitched. It's hard to have any reaction other than "what a tragic mess". The stat that will stick in mind is that 92% of Syria's ambulances are no longer functional - it's a weird measure in a way, but it gives a picture of the scale of the loss.
I'm sure that the relative brevity means that some of the political nuance is lost, but for a newcomer to the wider picture (like me), it was well pitched. It's hard to have any reaction other than "what a tragic mess". The stat that will stick in mind is that 92% of Syria's ambulances are no longer functional - it's a weird measure in a way, but it gives a picture of the scale of the loss.
January 21, 2017
I am torn in this review, I think the book needed to be longer and more of a slow contextualized explanation. However I was willing to read it because it was short and concise... I know a lot more now about Syria, its history, and its diversity. I wish there was a recommended reading list at the end of this because wow it is a ridiculously complex history, rich with contradiction. But I will say this, it made me want to know more. I want to understand how colonial powers shaped Syrias history. It also made me want to understand how a "Syrian" national identity was formed. So successful book on that front. Plus the writing was facile and gave a sampler of many things. overall recommend.
April 15, 2018
Syria Burning is a short discussion about how Syria has evolved into and out of the 2011 'revolution'; which has turned bad like a number of other Middle Eastern revolutions, due to a huge array of powerful external interests, and a level of disunity between participants. It is a good introduction to the various interests of the parties that are involved in the conflict. This includes why such parties have gotten involved and the general trajectory of their involvement. The situation is much clearer with such a concise discussion, and without the usual problem of the author's own perspective distorting the reading (i.e. almost all of Western reporting); while also refusing to be cold and alienated or even attempting to declare an objective impartiality.
May 12, 2016
Glass's book opens with a helpful chronology of the Civil War, up to December 2014, before juxtaposing a summary of the conflict with a wider political, historical, and demographic context. The book highlights the West's incompetence as well as the Syrian opposition's conflicting objectives (or complete lack thereof) and perhaps is not as critical of the Assad regime as it could be. It is a useful primer and a nice companion piece to The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution by Patrick Cockburn (who writes the book's foreword).
My review of that book is here.
My review of that book is here.
July 26, 2016
At less than 200 pages, the main thing this book did for me was leave me with the feeling that I know less than I did before I read it. It's well written, there's a good general historical overview and a good general synopsis of the current issues. It's tragic and made even more so by the self-interested interference by other nations (specifically, the US, Russia, France, Britain, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey). I agree with his conclusion that a unified strategy would be more effective, but I am uncertain that it will be enough. Mostly I feel like I need to read a lot more on the subject to begin to have a coherent opinion.
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