Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hinnebusch, Raymond

Titel

Documenting the Roots and Dynamics of the Syrian Uprising

Ist Teil von

• Middle East Journal, 2013, Vol.67 (3), p.467-474

Ort / Verlag

Washington: Middle East Institute

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Quelle

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Other factors that could have been expected to deter a rebellion were the substantial stake in preventing Islamic fundamentalism by minorities and the secular middle class and bour- geoisie - who could account for half the population in Lesch's calculation (p. 52); the fragmentation of opposition; Asad's relatively good image as a youthful reformer with a still-modest lifestyle; and the absence of a viable alternative to him. [...]some reforms had been positive: private banks and an inflow of Gulf investment in tourism and real estate, plus the spread of private educational institutions, had provided jobs, profits, and opportunities for the urban middle classes. [...]though, Lesch argues, Syria had many of the same problems as the other Arab republics (pp. 44^8, 55-68): rapid birth rates, combined with free education, hence a rapid growth of unemployed educated youth that the economy could not absorb; an attempt via infttah to restart the private sector while also privileging cronies, with the best of the new jobs going to the well-connected.