Washington’s Long War on Syria
Stephen Gowans
When President Barack Obama demanded formally in the summer of 2011 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, it was not the first time Washington had sought regime change in Damascus. The United States had waged a long war against Syria from the very moment the country’s fiercely independent Arab nationalist movement—of which Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad were committed devotees—came to power in 1963.
Washington sought to purge Arab nationalist influence from the Syrian state and the Arab world more broadly because it was a threat to its agenda of establishing global primacy and promoting business-friendly investment climates for US banks, investors and corporations throughout the world.
Arab nationalists aspired to unify the world’s 400 million Arabs into a single super-state capable of challenging United States hegemony in West Asia and North Africa and becoming a major player on the world stage free from the domination of the former colonial powers and the US. Washington had waged long wars on the leaders of the Arab nationalist movement—Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Iraq’s Saddam, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and Syria’s Assads, often allying with particularly violent forms of political Islam to undermine its Arab nationalist foes.
By 2011, only one pan-Arabist state remained in the region—Syria. In Washington’s Long War on Syria Stephen Gowans examines the decades-long struggle between secular Arab nationalism, political Islam, and United States imperialism for control of Syria, the self-proclaimed Den of Arabism, and last secular pan-Arabist state in the region.
Print Length: 281 pagesPublisher: Baraka Books (April 17, 2017)
Publication Date: April 17, 2017
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Dr. T
4.0 out of 5 stars very repetitive, but ultimately essential.Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019
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Gowans' analysis is incredible. I only docked a star because he repeated himself an absurd amount. The book could have probably been half as long if he only made each point once. The amount of times he repeated the three goals of secular arab nationalists that made them pariahs to washington (arab unity, socialism, anti imperialism) were almost insulting. That aside, this is an amazing breakdown and anyone who wants to understand foreign policy in the middle east has to read this book.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018
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a knowledge off mainstream which is worth reading
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nicola walter palmieri
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in the United States on September 6, 2017
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this canadian perspective is very helpful
4 people found this helpful
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Prole Center
5.0 out of 5 stars Wall Street Makes War on SocialismReviewed in the United States on May 7, 2017
Format: Paperback
Stephen Gowans has been blogging for years on his website, "what's left," and now he has written this excellent account of Washington / Wall Street's long war on Syria. This war has been in the planning stages for decades and has been now implemented through radical Wahhabi terrorist proxies. In this book Gowans explains why the US ruling class has such enmity for the government of Syria. The details and historical examples are contained in the book, but the short answer has to do with the slogan of the Arab nationalist and socialist Ba'ath Party of "Unity, Freedom, Socialism." The government of President Bashar al-Assad is determined to ensure Arab freedom from enslavement by US investors and industrialists and he brazenly seeks to make the Syrian economy work for and provide for the well-being of Syrians. This insult against the global godfather cannot be tolerated and so Washington / Wall Street has put a hit out on the Syrian government. It's as simple as that, but you must read the book to get the full story.
I highly recommend this book to help explain what is happening, not only in Syria, but also the crisis that is unfolding on the Korean peninsula and throughout the world. Those who seek out an independent path from US-led global capitalism are destined for a collision course with all the might of the US military and intelligence apparatus!
26 people found this helpful
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Nowar
5.0 out of 5 stars A clear eyed view on SyriaReviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017
Format: Paperback
Canada is far away from Syria, but Stephen Gowans has done an incredible job researching this extremely complex subject and presents his findings in a very clear and objective manner. A huge contrast with the narrative we have been subjected to for the last six years, which is usually based on unreliable and unverifiable sources. Stephen exposes both sides of the issues and puts forward verifiable facts to help the reader better understand this complex war.
15 people found this helpful
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K S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Honest accountReviewed in the United States on February 21, 2020
Format: Kindle Edition
Great account of the war without any propaganda over it.
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Louis Proyect
1.0 out of 5 stars Those who love Assad will also love this bookReviewed in the United States on July 18, 2017
Format: Paperback
This book recapitulates all of the pro-Assad arguments over the past 6 years that are found both in the part of the "left" that Gowans occupies as well as the right (David Duke, Nigel Farage, Pamela Geller, Richard Spencer, Marine Le Pen). It proceeds on the basis that the USA plotted to destroy a legitimately elected government and replace it with a neoliberal dictatorship.
In fact, the current dictator's father seized power in a military coup in 1971 and installed his son Bashar from his death bed. Elections in Syria are rather a joke, with the victory of the Baathists averaging 98 percent. In most instances, the left would consider such elections as bogus but exceptions are made for Syrian "socialism".
This is a most peculiar form of socialism considering the fact that Rami Makhlouf, Assad's cousin, controls about 60 percent of the economy and shelters his ill-gotten gains in Mossack-Fonseca banks in Panama. It is also quite peculiar that given Assad's "anti-imperialism", he was totally willing to collaborate with the CIA in its "extraordinary rendition" program that amounted to kidnapping suspected "jihadis" and transporting them to Syrian prisons without a trial, where they would be tortured.
It is also a most peculiar form of socialism in which hospitals are bombed by Assad's air force and entire cities are leveled to the ground. I suspect that Gowans is doing nothing but preaching to the choir with this meretricious book. Those who love Assad will also love this book. So I doubt sales will exceed a couple of hundred.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable book for the real reasons the west is waging ...Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2018
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Indispensable book for the real reasons the west is waging war against Syria led by Washington.
In depth details & irefutable facts on the ground.
Read this if you don't want to believe the MSM lies that are churned out daily in regards to Syria.
This is the Book.
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Cassandra Leigh
5.0 out of 5 stars Gives a different perspective on the Syria situation. Very interesting!Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2019
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Very interesting and informative, giving a different perspective on the Syrian situation from that of the BBC and most of the media.
Well worth reading!
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Jim Callin
3.0 out of 5 stars it is a good book and it explains things that you are not ...Reviewed in Canada on December 4, 2017
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
If you want to know why these things are going in Syria, it is a good book and it explains things that you are not going to get from the news. I found that the author was really repeating himself a lot. It may be that it was necessary for an in depth explanation. I now know more about the reason the USA has called for Assad to step down, but it has nothing to do with what the Syrian people want or need. It has nothing to do with human atrocity or democracy. Yanky go home.
One person found this helpful
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Dullien, Manfred
5.0 out of 5 stars Bringt Informationen, die man sonst nicht erhält.Reviewed in Germany on October 28, 2017
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Das Buch geht ein auf den arabischen Sozialismus der Baath-Partei in Syrien, Irak und Libyen. Es wird verständlich, dass der Orient-Krise eine Inkompatibilität zwischen dem arabischen Sozialismus einerseits und den amerikanischen Prinzipien der Wirtschaftspolitik zugrundeliegt. Die Schlussfolgerungen sind häufig marxistisch (oder so ähnlich) eingefärbt. Wer in erster Linie an den Fakten interessiert ist, kann ja darüber hinweglesen.
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Nouha Homad
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in Canada on March 19, 2018
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Merci.
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