Syria: The Tragedy of a Pivotal State.

• Author: Abhyankar, Rajendra M.

The civil unrest that began in the Middle East with the Arab uprising is still ongoing in Syria. The conflict has taken the lives of nearly half a million people and displaced more than eleven million, about half of whom are registered as refugees or living under temporary protection regimes in neighboring countries. Syria: The Tragedy of a Pivotal State, written by Rajendra M. Abhyankar, seeks to provide readers with comprehensive details on Syria, with a focus on how the country has come to this point and what remains insufficient regarding international solidarity. Abhyankar is a former diplomat who served as the Indian Secretary of External Affairs from 2001-2004, and as the Indian Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, Luxemburg, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, and Cyprus. Abhyankar retired from the O'Neill School at Indiana University in 2019.

The first chapter of the book offers a general explanation of the conflict, delving into its roots in Syrian history, as well as the consequences of the civil war, the various military engagements in the region, the situation of displaced persons and refugees, and the country's economic prospects.

Abhyankar describes Syria as a 'pluralist' and 'pivotal' state and notes that Syria's location at the edge of Asia and as the 'bridge' to Africa gives it special geostrategic importance. He claims that Assad "had support from key elements of Syrian society while his army and intelligence remains one of the most diverse in the Arab World" (p. 48). The author also notes that the combination of cultural divisions and resource scarcity caused by ecological problems has created fertile ground for the escalation of the conflict. Interestingly, he compares the concepts of civil war and eco-Sectarianism together by stating, "[A]gainst the backdrop of climate change, the phenomena of eco-sectarianism explain the relationship between sectarian violence and environmental pressures in fragmented and unequal societies with a weak sense of national consciousness and languishing nation-building projects" (p. 42). Abhyankar characterizes Syria's political culture as dominated by Arab Baathist thought, supporting his point with several examples (pp. 49-50). The author gave one of these examples as follows: "It has an allergy to accepting foreign aid and suspicion of the West, particularly the United States, in view of Syria's hypersensitivity to all that is external and the constant and heavy presence of an...