Book Reviews : The Struggle for Syria: A Study of Post-War Arab Politics, 1945-1958. By PAT- RICK SEALE. (London: Oxford University Press, 1965. Pp. xvi, 344.)

• Author: G.R. Field
• Published date: 01 December 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900442
• Date: 01 December 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

766

and

surely

over

long

distances

at

relatively

fast

speeds.

The

railway

age

is

not

necessarily

over.

Robbins

is

a

railroad

enthusiast

and

tends

to

exaggerate

slightly

the

importance

of

his

interest.

He

crams

so

much

material

in

so

small

a

space

that

the

reader

often

wishes

he

would

expand

on

interesting

topics.

But

Robbins

writes

well,

does

a

good

job

in

organizing

material,

and

has

selected

an

exciting

subject

that

should

appeal

to

railroad

fans

and

students

of

British

history.

Marquette

University

LAWRENCE

J.

MCCAFFREY

The

Struggle

for

Syria:

A

Study

of

Post-War

Arab

Politics,

1945-1958.

By

PAT-

RICK

SEALE.

(London:

Oxford

University

Press,

1965.

Pp.

xvi,

344.)

Jordan:

A

Political

Study,

1948-1957.

By

AQIL

HYDER

HASAN

ABIDI.

(New

York:

Asia

Publishing

House,

1965.

Pp.

x,

251.)

If

asked

to

offer

advice

concerning

the

teaching

of

a

course

on

the

contempo-

rary

governments

and

politics

of

the

Middle

East,

my

response

would

be

that

a

most

important

requisite

for

teacher

and

student

would

be

a

sense

of

history.

Without

this

we

often

impose

alien

concepts

or

make

the

mistake

of

viewing

a

political

situation

through

the

narrow

perspective

of

our

sacie~ty’s

experiences

or

obsessions.

These

volumes,

although

disparate

in

approach

and

quality,

are

both

contributions

to

the

creation

of

a

sense

of

history.

The

reader

quickly

becomes

aware

of

the

continuity

of

Middle

Eastern

politics.

As

Patrick

Seale,

the

Beirut-based

correspondent

of

The

Observer,

makes

abundantly

clear,

the

politics

of

postwar

Syria

should

not

be

viewed

simply

as

an

extension

of

cold

war

politics

(although

admittedly

great

power

rivalry

did

come

to

play a

significant

part

and

the

author

gives

thorough

attention,

and

critical

appraisal,

to

the

impact

of

the

Baghdad

Pact,

the

Suez

invasions,

and

the

Eisen-

hower

Doctrine).

In

fact,

Sale

argues

that

much

of

Syrian

politics

of

this

period

is

derivative

of

the

old

rivalry

between

Egypt,

often

allied

with

the

anti-Hashimite

Saudis,

and

Iraq

for

primacy

in

the

Middle

East.

’Abd

al-Nasir

can

be

viewed

as

a

kind

of

traditionalist

in

that

he

successfully

opposed

a

variety

of

ambitions,

such

as

a

Fertile

Crescent

plan

or

the

creation

of

a

Greater

Syria,

associated

with

members

of

the

Hashimite

family

just

as

had

his

Egyptian

predecessors.

Nasir’s

policy

was

innovating

in

the

sense

that

a

United

Arab

Republic

came

into

temporary

being,

while

his

predecessors

had

been

content

with

maintaining

the

territorial

status

quo.

Often

a

book

is

properly

lauded

because

it

simplifies

a

complex

situation.

Seale’s

book

deserves

praise,

but

on

the

ground

that

is

successfully

makes

us

aware

of

the

complexities

of

reality.

The

struggle

for

Syria

was,

and

is,

far

from

being

a

neatly

ordered

contest

for

power.

Almost

every

conceivable

societal

grouping

and

ideological

stance

makes

an

appearance

during

the

period

under

examination:

old

and

new

nationalists,

Ba’thists,

Communists,

Muslim

Brethren,

pan-Arabists,

pan-Syrians,

pro-

and

anti-Hashimites,

regional

interests

centered

in

Aleppo

and

Damascus,

specific

military

garrisons

and

officers,

powerful

political

families,

and

so

on.

The

difficulty

was,

of

course,

that

even

those

organizations

described

as