Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview Shmuel Bar ...

362 S. Barof Lebanon, with which Syria has never (even before the Syrian occupation of 1975) exchangedembassies on the grounds that there is no need for embassies between two parts ofthe same country.The ideology of pan-Arabism remained in the rhetoric of the Ba’th party, but the word“Arab” became more and more a code word for Syria. The overt emphasis on “Arab” identityserves the regime’s interests: Domestically—to discourage signs of localism and sectarianism, on one hand, andto obfuscate the sectarian nature of the Alawite-led regime, as the other. Outwards to the Arab world—the implicit message is that Syria is willing tosacrifice its own local interests for those of the “Arab Nation,” and it will preferthe interests of other Arabs over any other circle of association that Syria may bein (Islamic, nonaligned). However, it expects other countries to do the same. Thusthe ideology is translated into a demand that Arab countries respect Syria’s vitalinterests as defined by Damascus. When these encompass such wideranging issuessuch as Lebanon and the Israeli-Arab conflict, this position, when accepted, providedSyria with disproportional regional status. In practical terms, this allowed Syria todemand and receive across-the-board Arab recognition of its own vested interestsin Lebanon and vis-à-vis Israel. This was expressed in Arab League summits andSyria’s leverage over the other Arabs in the international arena.Party membership usually involves entire families. Many of the families do not rise tothe national level and continue to provide the local strongmen to the branches of the partyin their home areas. While there is not enough detailed information on the party apparatuson the branch level, it is widely known that many positions are allocated on a nepotisticbasis.The centralist nature of the Syrian regime under Hafez al-Asad restricted the potentialfor party power bases to develop past the local level. The fact that the Regional Congresswas not convened for fifteen years, and the Central Committee played no more than a rubberstamp role, limited the ability of senior party members to develop independent power bases.For the time being Bashar’s policy of strengthening the party as a power base for himselfhas been counterbalanced by his infusion of extraparty technocrats into key posts.There is no real distinction between power bases of the Ba’th party and those of theregime or the country in general. All the above power bases are also intimately intertwined;while not all economic or military power bases are tribal based, those that are not frequentlymarry into the tribal system in order to cement their power base. At the same time, a tribalpower base alone is not enough; the prominent families and tribes use their social leverageto gain positions in the party apparatus, to appoint their sons to senior posts in the army, andto create economic power bases for themselves. The nodal relationships between echelonsof the regime allow those at the top ranks of the regime to bestow privileges and thus toguarantee the loyalty of those beneath them. These privileges include: Membership in the party—The recruitment system described above delegates authorityto the Branch Command (in fact, the Branch Secretary) to approve the membershipof a candidate in the party. Party and public office—The Branch Commands have extensive control over theprocess of elections to the constituent bodies of the party in the Branch and recommendpeople for office in the local government to which they belong. Protection from harassment by the mokhabarat.