Middle East News

Your Source for all news in the Middle East

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Egypt
    • Egypt News
    • Egypt History
  • Gulf States
    • Gulf States News
    • Gulf States History
  • Iraq
    • Iraq News
    • Iraq History
  • Israel
    • Israel News
    • Israel History
  • Lebanon
    • Lebanon News
    • Lebanon History
  • Africa
    • Africa News
    • Africa History
  • Turkey
    • Turkey News
    • Turkey History
  • Iran
    • Iran News
    • Iran History
  • Syria
    • Syria News
    • Syria History
  • Islamic
    • Al-Qaeda
    • Hizballah
    • Islamic History
    • Muslim Brotherhood
    • Salafi
  • Contact

AL-ASAD IN DIRE NEED OF BOTH POWER AND LEGITIMACY IN SYRIA

November 4, 2012 Leave a Comment

www.middle-eastnews.com_Basher-al-Asad-And-Hafez-al-Asad-in-Syria-825x374

The core institutional components of the Syria’s al Asad regime include the bloated bureaucracy and ruthless Ba’th party. Both of these pillars hinder the effective operation of the government and undermine its performance. This performance drain is compounded by the necessity of patronage networks. The Alawi minority has embedded its interests deep within the regime. It promotes corruption, and ensures the loyalty of the beneficiaries; this greatly damages proper functioning of the state, especially vis-à-vis the economy.

The differences for Syria under Hafez al Asad and Bashar al Asad reveal the inherent weakness of the regime. The difficulties Bashar al Asad has faced since taking over after the death of his father are recognizable through his lack of absolute power. Bashar al Asad’s inability to reform and foresee an impending economic crisis, along with his dependence on the old Ba’th guard, further illustrates the intrinsic limitations of the Syrian regime’s architecture.

Although Hafez al Asad was able to ensure a transition of power, he was not able to reorient the structure of the Syrian regime. Because Bashar al Asad is not his father, and was unable to lock in public support; simply put Hafez al Asad was the regime and Bashar al Asad has been unable to fill the power vacuum.

As a result, Bashar al Asad has been left in dire need of both power and legitimacy. This need is clearly evident in his policies since assuming office. At first he tried to generate legitimacy amongst the people, but the legacies of the past, namely the old Syrian guard, the regime structure, and the resistance to change, negated Bashar al Asad’s efforts. The Syrian civil war seemed unavoidable in the midsts of the Arab Spring, but it begs the question, could Bashar al Asad have saved his regime in Syria through transparent reform if he acted as soon as took power?

Filed Under: history, Syria Tagged With: Alawi, Basher al-Asad, economic crisis, Hafez al-Asad, liberalization, old guard, regime collapse in Syria, Syria, Syrian regime

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent News

SYRIAN AIR FORCE KILLS 27 CIVILIANS IN ALEPPO MARKET

SYRIAN AIR FORCE KILLS 27 CIVILIANS IN ALEPPO MARKET

GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ OFFICIALLY CLOSES ABU GHRAIB PRISON

GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ OFFICIALLY CLOSES ABU GHRAIB PRISON

THE FIRST ISLAMIC YOUTH ASSOCIATION IN ALEPPO IN 1935

THE FIRST ISLAMIC YOUTH ASSOCIATION IN ALEPPO IN 1935

ISLAMIC IDENTITIES IN EGYPT

ISLAMIC IDENTITIES IN EGYPT

REVIVING ISLAM IN EGYPT

REVIVING ISLAM IN EGYPT

Tags

Algeria Amal Asad Asad regime Bashar al-Asad Basher al-Asad Damascus Damascus Spring da’wah Egypt Exporting the Islamic Revolution Hafez al-Asad Hamas Hassan al-Banna Hizballah Iran Iranian Revolution Islam Islamic history Islamic unity Israel Khomeini Kurds Lebanon liberalization Middle East Muslim Brotherhood North Africa Palestinians Pan-Islam personality cult power and legitimacy reform Saudi Arabia sharia Shi'a Shi’i southern Lebanon Soviet Union Syria Syrian Civil War Syrian regime The Damascus Spring Turkey United Nations

RSS AlJazeera

  • شرائح إلكترونية بأحذية عسكرية.. محاولة اختراق جديدة في غزة
  • بيجي العراقية.. الدمار والمليشيات يمنعان عودة النازحين
  • أكثر من نال البطاقات الحمراء بالليغا.. الطرد الـ25 للمشاغب راموس
  • تصعيد جديد.. إسرائيل تنهب أموال عائلات الأسرى والشهداء
  • انتخابات نيجيريا.. صراع ثنائي والرهانات أمنية واقتصادية
  • الكشف عن "محاولة انقلابية" للإطاحة بالرئيس ترامب
  • احتجاجات السودانيين بالخارج.. هل تشكل فارقا بمسار الأزمة؟

RSS Jerusalem Post

  • Yemen protesters oppose normalization with Israel
  • ANALYSIS: An attempt to look presidential?
  • Poland, face facts
  • Livni likely to quit politics this week, Gantz party falls in polls
  • Will the ICC criminally probe Abbas for mass torture?
  • Debate and division come under discussion by presidents, judges and rabbis
  • Drug dealer arrested for selling heroin to undercover police officer in TA
  • Israel to penalize Palestinians for terror payments by withholding tax fees
  • Govt. approves NIS17m for memorial to Jewish fighters in WWII
  • Virtual scalpel, please: Israeli tech revolutionizes the operating theater

About Us

Middle-East News covers breaking news in the Middle East and Islamic world. We provide an in-depth look at Middle Eastern politics through academic accounts of history.

Hot News

Stay Informed

Copyright © 2019 Middle East News