| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Syria's neighbours have grown used to the resilience and surprising longevity of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Bashar owes much to the attainment by his father Hafez al-Assad of three strategic goals: consolidating internal authority, turning Syria's difficult geography (bordered by powerful or volatile states) into a source of regional relevance and turning its limited qualities of power into an appearance of strength. Today, with internal unrest and incipient civil war, this strategic stability is in jeopardy; the country is exposed to external predatory ambitions, sectarian-fuelled intervention and attempts to change its strategic orientation.
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