Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria

Khoury, MERIP Reports, 'An excellent study of the sectarian bases of Syrian politics' - Foreign Affairs, 'Only a handful of important books have been written on modern Syria; and Nikolaos van Dam's The Struggle for Power in Syria is one of them' - Joshua Landis, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 'Nikolaos van Dam is a rare species: An academic analyst and an excellent diplomat who has accompanied and shaped recent Syrian history in theory and practice. His seminal book, The struggle for power in Syria is a must read for anybody wanting to understand the modern history of Syria after the Baath coup of 1963. It substantially updates and advances our understanding of the ever evolving war in Syria.' - David W. He is also brutally honest, including with Western policy failures, and hard to be put into a political camp in this polarized conflict. On the basis of profound studies of the Baath system, he explains how

Nikolaos van Dam is a specialist on Syria who served as Special Envoy of the Netherlands for Syria in 2015-16. . He has previously served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Egypt, and Iraq

In this book, former Special Envoy of the Netherlands to Syria Nikolaos van Dam explains the recent history of Syria, covering the growing disenchantment with the Assad regime, the chaos of civil war and the fractures which led to the rise and expansion of ISIS. Through an in-depth examination of the role of sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties in Syria, van Dam traces political developments within the Assad regime and the military and civilian power elite from the Arab Spring to the present day.. It has since become a fractured warzone which