 Politics and the Economy in Syria
J A Allan
University of London
The Centre was founded in 1966 with the purpose of convening meetings and conferences on Middle Eastern Studies and through the use of the SOAS and other archives to promote and diffuse knowledge of the region. The publication of proceedings, edited books and journals by staff of the Centre, and those who attend its meetings, also encourages the exchange of views within the large community interested in the region from the academic, business and government communities and the media.
Membership of the Centre includes all the staff of the SOAS Near and Middle East Department and the regional specialists from the departments of anthropology, economics, geography, history, law and politics. The expertise available ranges through time from pre-history to the present day; in geographical scope from Morocco to Pakistan and from Turkey to Sudan and in specialisation from the environmental circumstances prevailing in the region to the social, religious, economic and political systems which characetrise the Middle East as a whole as well as its many contrasting elements.
Contents
The Economy
Syria: land and people
Norman Lewis / 1
Syria's agricultural options
J A Allan, SOAS / 21
Economic development in Syria since 1970
Gunter Meyer, University of Erlangen / 39
Regional growth and change in Syria since 1963,
Alasdair Drysdale, University of New Hampshire / 63
Politics
The background and role of the Baath Party
David Roberts / 89
Intellectuals and the Syrian revolution
Peter Gran, Temple University, Philadelphia / 107
Local responses to a policy of social change in Syria - abstract
Francoise Metral, IRMAC, Lyon / 127
International Relations
The concept of Greater Syria - abstract
Ghayth Armanazi / 128
Syria's regional relations and its relations with the super-powers
Ivor Lucas / 129
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This volume contains papers of the conference held at the School of Oriental and African Studies on 20 May 1987 on the subject of the contemporary politics and economics of Jordan. The purpose of the meeting was first to examine briefly the environmental endowment of the country and then to look at Syria's economy and development prospects and secondly to analyse the country's current political options and its regional and international relations.
The convenors were very pleased to be able to draw very fully on the expertise of specialists from many parts of the world and the they are very grateful to those contributors who spared time to prepare papers in camera-ready form (sometimes at very short notice) so that their views could be available in this publication at the conference.
Tony Allan, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Note
The papers and abstracts included here have been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the authors and the contents reflect their opinions. Convenors of the meeting from School of Oriental Studies and elsewhere, and officials of the University of London in which the sessions were held, do not necessarily share the views expressed herein.
Syria: Land and People
Norman N. Lewis
Abstract: The objective is to present an introduction to the countryside and the people of Syria. The emphasis is on developments between 1946, when the country attained its independence, and the present time. The following are some of the topics which are briefly discussed: landscapes and agricultural regions, ethnic and sectarian groups, demography, changes in the way of life of the tribes, deterioration of the rangeland, the agricultural boom of 1943-58, the land reform of 1958-68, farming today.
Introduction
I will try in this first lecture today to present a down to earth introduction, descriptive rather than analytical, to the country and people of Syria. I will concern myself more with the countryside than with the cities and will only mention very briefly some important matters which will be dealt with more fully by later speakers.
Syria is a country of moderate size - larger than England and Wales together, smaller than the United Kingdom. But nearly half the country is poor steppe or semidesert, only 30% of the total area is agricultural land, and only 9% of the agricultural land is irrigated, so that the really productive part of the country is quite small. The uncultivated land does, however, provide some of the food required by Syria's several million sheep, and farming of all kinds, including sheep rearing, contributes a larger proportion of Gross National Product and supports more people than any other activity. Cotton is a particularly important crop, as it provides one of the country's most valuable exports. Syria has few non-agricultural resources -crude oil and phosphates are the most important - and has great difficulty in paying for its imports. However, although it is not a rich country, it is not very poor, as the following figures of G.N.P. show. I have grouped with …
Paper presented at the Conference on Politics and the economy in Syria convened in the University of London (SOAS) on SO May, 1987.
J A Allan
Politics and the Economy in Syria
University of London
University of London
Politics and the Economy in Syria
Editor: J A Allan
Centre of Near & Middle Eastern Studies
School of Oriental & African Studies
University of London 1987
Proceedings of a Conference Held at
The School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
on 20 May 1987
Conference convened and the proceedings edited by
J A Allan
School of Oriental & African Studies
in association with staff of the SOAS Middle East Centre
The conference was sponsored by
The SOAS Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
1987
Copyright of the material in this publication rests with the authors of the
papers and quotation of such material should not
be made without reference to the authors.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the authors.
First published 1987
Centre of Near & Middle Eastern Studies
School of Oriental & African Studies
University of London
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