Book Reviews : The Syrian Social Nationalist Party: An Ideological Analysis. By LABIB ZUWIYYA YAMAK. (Cambridge: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University Press, 1966. Pp. 177. $3.50.) The Arab Ba'th Socialist Party: History, Ideology, and Organization. By KAMAL S. ABU JABER. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1966. Pp. 218. $6.50.)

• Author: G.R. Field
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296702000433
• Published date: 01 December 1967
• Date: 01 December 1967
• Subject Matter: Articles

1010

cal

predispositions.

He

thus

takes

issue

with

Frank

Owsley’s

thesis

that

the

Confed-

eracy

failed

because

of

overemphasis

on

states’

rights,

suggesting

that

the

emphasis

was

mostly

on

paper,

while

in

practice

the

central

government

in

Richmond

assumed

and

used

extensive

powers.

The

actual

governmental

system

that

evolved,

he

says,

&dquo;revealed

a

striking

resemblance

to

the

one

from

which

the

South

had

withdrawn.&dquo;

After

an

analysis

of

the

nature

of

the

Confederate

constitution,

noting

especial-

ly

the

remarkable

extent

to

which

the

framers

retained

sections

of

the

U.S.

Con-

stitution

that

made

possible

the

broad

exercise

of

central

government

power,

the

author

traces

the

history

of

the

Confederacy

in

the

framework

of

national-state

re-

lations.

From

this

viewpoint

he

examines

the

performance

of

Jefferson

Davis

as

President,

the

nationalizing

tendencies

of

much

congressional

action,

and

the

role

of

the

courts

and

the

central

government

bureaucracy.

Nor

are

the

frequently

bitter

reactions

of

some

of

the

member

states

ignored.

Amlund

contributes

little

that

is

new

to

the

history

of

this

period,

but

that

is

not

his

purpose.

He

views

that

history

from

a

special

perspective,

and

ventures

oc-

casional

new

interpretations.

In

practice,

he

contends,

the

so-called

Confederacy

became

a

federation

rather

than

a

confederation.

It

was

a

union

of

the

Southern

people

as

a

whole,

and

not

an

association

of

sovereign

states.

It

is

of

course

quite

possible

to

argue

with

judgments

here

and

there,

but

the

case

that

he

makes

is

both

persuasive

and

enlightening.

University

of

Redlands

ROBERT

L.

MORLAN

The

Syrian

Social

Nationalist

Party:

An

Ideological

Analysis.

By

LABIB

ZUWIYYA

YAMAK.

(Cambridge:

Center

for

Middle

Eastern

Studies,

Harvard

University

Press,

1966.

Pp. 177.

$3.50.)

The

Arab

Ba’th

Socialist

Party:

History,

Ideology,

and

Organization.

By

KAMAL

S.

ABU JABER.

(Syracuse:

Syracuse

University

Press,

1966.

Pp. 218.

$6.50.)

Limited

focus

studies

of

recent

Middle

Eastern

politics

are

sufficiently

uncom-

mon

to

make

the

appearance

of

these

two

volumes

a

signal

event.

Neither

mono-

graph

is

entirely

successful,

but

the

deficiencies

are

more

attributable

to

the

nature

of

the

material

involved

than

to

the

questions

posed

by

the

authors.

Yamak’s

treatment

of

the

Syrian

Social

Nationalist

party

is

essentially

an

analy-

sis

of

the

rather

murky

doctrines

of

the

organization

which

was

founded

and

led

by

Antun

Sa’adih

until

his

execution

by

the

Lebanese

government

in

1949.

Sufhcient

attention

is

given

to

the

structure

of

the

SSNP

and

to

Sa’adih’s

theory

and

practice

of

leadership

(which

his

successors

could

not

maintain)

to

enable

the

reader

to

grasp

why

some

observers

and

some

foes

described

the

party

as

being

based

on

fascist

pro-

totypes.

While

the

book

is

not

intended

as

a

political

history

of

the

region,

Yamak

places

the

SSNP

in

the

context

of

Lebanese

and

Fertile

Crescent

politics.

In

a

sense,

the

SSNP

has

been

an

anomaly

in

politics.

Attempting

to

recruit

members

across

confessional

lines

it

has

stood

apart

from

the

two

major

contestants

in

the

political

struggle,

the

Lebanese

separatists

and

their

Arab

integrationist

opponents,

and

has

offered

an

alternative

with

little

popular

appeal.

Hostile

toward

Arab

nationalism,

the

SSNP,

especially

under

Sa’adih,

espoused

a

doctrine

of

Syrian

nationalism

-

the