Syria
(see also Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine & Israel)
Basics
CIA World Factbook. Includes map.
UN Development Program, Human Development Indicators
On the Web: Articles
New Cheney Foreign Policy Advisor Sets Sights on Syria. Jim Lobe, Foreign Policy in Focus (10/22/03).
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Al Bawaba: Middle East Gateway. Section for each country.
Amarji: A Heretic's Blog. Novelist Ammar Abdulhamid.
Middle East Research & Information Project. Publishers of indispensable MERIP Report.
In the Library: Articles
Amidon, Elias & Elizabeth Rabia Roberts. “A pilgrimage to Syria,” Yes! (Spring, 2004).
Blanford, Nicholas. "In secular Syria, an Islamic revival," Christian Science Monitor (10/3/03):6.
Filkins, Dexter. "With US in neighborhood, Syria eases its grip," New York Times (7/23/03):A4.
Hersh, Seymour. "The Syrian bet," New Yorker (7/28/03):32-36.
Khoury, Philip S. "Abu Ali al-Kilawi: a Damascus Qabaday," in E. Burke III (ed.) Struggle & Survival in the Modern Middle East (Berkeley, 1993), pp. 179-90.
Sarkees, M.R. & S. Zunes. "Disenchantment with the New World Order: Syria's relations with the US," International Journal 49 (spr 94):355-77.
Viorst, Milton. "Assad's Syria," Nation (7/3/00):7.
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Agha, Husayn. Syria & Iran: Rivalry & Cooperation (NY, 1995).
Amnesty International. Syria (London, 1975).
__________. Syria (London, 1983).
__________. Syria: Torture by Security Forces (London, 1987).
__________. Syria: Repression & Impunity. The Forgotten Victims (NY, 1995).
__________. Syria: Double Injustice. Prisoners of Conscience Detained Beyond Expiry of their Sentences (London, 1999).
Antoun, Richard T. & Donald Quataert (eds.) Syria: Society, Culture & Polity (Albany, 1991).
Attar, Chand. The Revolutionary Arabs: A Study of the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Movement (Delhi: Homeland, 1981).
Batatu, Hanna. Syria's Peasantry, the Descendents of its Lesser Rural Nobles, and their Politics (Princeton, 1999).
Burns, Ross. Damascus: A History (NY: Routledge, 2005). Ancient times to fall of Ottoman Empire in 1918.
Collelo, Thomas (ed.) Syria: A Country Study (Washington, 1988).
Cumings, Bruce; Ervand Abrahamian & Moshe M'aoz. Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth about North Korea, Iran & Syria (NY: New Press, 2004).
Dawisha, A.I. Syria & the Lebanese Crisis (London, 1980).
Devlin, John F. Syria: Modern State in an Ancient Land (London, 1983).
Drysdale, Alasdair. Syria & the Middle East Peace Process (NY, 1991).
Everett, Flynt. Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire (Washington: Brookings Institution, 2005).
Ehteshami, Anoushiravan. Syria & Iran: Middle Powers in a Penetrated Regional Slystem (NY, 1997).
Hinnebusch, Raymond A. Syria: Revolution from Above (London, 2001).
Hitti, Philip. Syria: A Short History (NY, 1959).
Hopwood, Derek. Syria 1945-1986: Politics & Society (London, 1988).
Khoury, Philip S. Syria & the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945 (Princeton, 1987).
Lawson, Fred Haley. Why Syria Goes to War: Thirty Years of Confrontation (Ithaca: Cornell U., 1996).
Lesch, David W. Syria & the US: Eisenhower's Cold War in the Middle East (Boulder, 1992).
Longrigg, Stephen H. Syria & Lebanon under French Mandate (London, 1958).
Mahr, Horst. Die Baath-Partei: Portrait einer panarabischen Bewegung (München: G. Olzog, 1971).
Ma'oz, Moshe. Syria under Hafiz al-Asad: New Domestic & Foreign Policies (Jerusalem, 1975).
__________ & Avner Yaniv (eds.) Syria under Assad: Domestic Constraints & Regional Risks (NY, 1986).
__________. Syria & Israel: From War to Peacemaking (Oxford, 1995).
Mardam Bey, Salma. Syria's Quest for Independence (Reading, UK, 1994).
Middle East Watch. Syria Unmasked: The Suppression of Human Rights by the Asad Regime (New Haven, 1991).
Moaddel, Mansoor. Jordanian Exceptionalism: A Comparative Analysis of State-Religion Relationships in Egypt, Iran, Jordan & Syria (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).
Oren, Michael. Six Days of War: June 1967 & the Making of the Modern Middle East (NY: Ballantine, 2003).
Roberts, David. The Ba'ath & the Creation of Modern Syria (NY: St. Martin's, 1987).
Seale, Patrick. Assad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East (Berkley: U. of California, 1989).
Talhami, Ghada Hashem. Syria & the Palestinians: The Clash of Nationalisms (Gainesville, 2001).
Tauber, Eliezer. The Formation of Modern Syria & Iraq (Portland OR: Frank Cass, 1995).
Nyrop, Richard F. (ed.) Syria: A Country Study (Washington, 1979).
Quilliam, Neil. Syria & the New World Order (Reading, UK, 1999).
Rabinovich, Itamar. Syria under the Ba'ath, 1963-66: The Army Party Symbiosis (Jerusalem, 1972).
In the Library: Fiction
Abdulhamid, Ammar. Menstruation (London: Saqi, 2001).
Ali, Tariq. The Book of Saladin (NY: Verso, 1999).
Attar, Samar. Lina: Portrait of a Damascene Girl (Boulder CO: Lynn Rienner, 1994).
__________. The House on 'Arnus Square (Pueblo CO: Passeggiata, 1998).
Easterman, Daniel. The Seventh Sanctuary (NY: Doubleday, 1987).
Elliott, Janice. Figures in the Sand (London: Sceptre, 1994).
Idlibi, Ulfat. Sabriya: Damascus Bitter Sweet (London: Quartet, 1995).
Lindisfarne, Nancy. Dancing in Damascus: Stories (Albany: SUNY, 2000).
Minah, Hanna. Fragments of Memory: A Story of a Syrian Family (trans. Olive Kenny & Lorne Kenny; Austin: U. Texas, 1993).
Schami, Rafik. Damascus Nights (trans. Philip Boehm; NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993).
Werfel, Franz. The Forty Days of Musa Dagh [1934] (trans. Geoffrey Dunlop; NY:Viking, 1967). Defense of Ottoman Syria during World War I.
In the Library: For Young Readers
Schami, Rafik. A Hand Full of Stars (trans. Rika Lesser; NY: Puffin, 1992).
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
Jenner, Michael. Syria in View (London, 1986).
Lewis, Peter. Syria: Land of Contrasts (London, 1980).
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Arab Diaries: Work" [2001], dir. Ghalia Sheikh, Lubna Haddad, Abbas Hashim & Raed Helou, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. Hope & aspirations of Iraqi, Syrian & Palestinian men & women, as expressed in dreams of flying.
"Arab Diaries: Birth" [2001], dir. Suheir Farraj, Abbas Hashim & Abeer Esber, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. Issues for women surrounding birth in Iraq, Syria & Palestine.