Francesco Belcastro - Syrian Foreign Policy: The Alliances of a Regional Power

Examining Syrian foreign policy during the Bath years from 1963 to 1989, this book traces the alliances of the Levantine country from a historical perspective and in the context of recent political developments.

Syrian Foreign Policy analyses the pivotal alliances of Damascus using a theoretical framework based on neoclassical realism, an approach which incorporates domestic factors such as the role of ideology within a realist perspective. Covering Syrias relations with Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Soviet Union, it asks the question: what led to the formation of each alliance and what has caused either its break up or its continuation? Belcastro seeks to answer this question but also reflects on the countrys foreign policy today and its broader implications for Syria and the whole region.

Making use of case studies to build upon a strong theoretical analysis, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Middle Eastern politics, as well as politics and International Relations more generally.

Francesco Belcastro is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Derby and a Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews.

Edited by Professor Raymond Hinnebusch

Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews

Editorial Board:

David Lesch, Trinity University, Texas

Yezid Sayigh, Carnegie Research Centre, Beirut

Christopher Phillips, Queen Mary University, London

Eberhard Kienle, Institut Francaise Proche Oriente (IFPO)

This series aims to be the major venue for the dissemination of research on modern Syria. Although it will not neglect Syrias past, the focus is on the current conflict. It showcases work that locates cutting edge empirical research within innovative theoretical frameworks from all disciplines on, for example, social movements, civil wars, intervention, identity conflicts, failed states, post-war reconstruction, authoritarian resilience, and non-state governance.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

The Democratic Option of Islamism

Naom Ramrez Daz

The Syrian Uprising

Domestic Factors and Early Trajectory

Edited by Raymond Hinnebusch and Omar Imady

State and Tribes in Syria

Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns

Haian Dukhan

Syrian Foreign Policy

The Alliances of a Regional Power

Francesco Belcastro

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/middleeaststudies/series/RSASSS

Francesco Belcastro

First published 2019

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2019 Francesco Belcastro

The right of Francesco Belcastro to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Belcastro, Francesco, author.

Title: Syrian foreign policy : the alliances of a regional power / Francesco Belcastro.

Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge/St. Andrews Syrian studies series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019002226 (print) | LCCN 2019004463 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429060779 (Ebook) | ISBN 9780429595189 (Adobe Reader) ISBN 9780429593895 (ePub) | ISBN 9780429592607 (Mobipocket Encrypted) | ISBN 9780367183172 | ISBN 9780367183172(hardback) ISBN 9780429060779(ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: SyriaForeign relations20th century. | SyriaForeign relationsMiddle East. | Middle EastForeign relationsSyria.

Classification: LCC DS95.5 (ebook) | LCC DS95.5 .B45 2019 (print) | DDC 327.5691dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019002226

ISBN: 978-0-367-18317-2 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-06077-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

PART I
Foreign policy and alliances

PART II
The alliances of Syria

PART III
Alliances and beyond

The study of alliances is one of the key concerns of realist analysis and Stephen Walt (1987) famously made a study of Middle East and North Africa alliances the main evidence for his claim that realist rules hold even in regions where shared identity might be thought to nullify them. Others have followed in his footsteps, seeking to trace out the interaction between the threats and interests fore-fronted by realism and ideational variables, including Rubin (2014), Haas (2012), Ryan (2009) and Gause (2003). Francesco Belcastros volume, which deploys neoclassical realism to understand the impact of ideology on the effectiveness of power balancing through alliance making, is a valuable contribution to this on-going debate. The book is also valuable in that it makes the only systematic theoretically framed survey of Syrias alliances, looking at six pivotal alliances over a period of several decades. As such, the book is a welcome contribution to studies of Syria and its international relations and foreign policy. It therefore constitutes an important addition to the Routledge/St Andrews Series on Modern Syria.

Raymond Hinnebusch
St Andrews, January 2019

I would like to thank my family for their love and support, especially my mum Donatella and dad Claudio, my sister Ilaria, my nonni that are no longer with us and my nonna that still is, my aunts, uncles and cousins, particularly my Auntie Giovanna and my Uncle Enrico, the academics of the family. And my wife Nada, to whom this book is dedicated. You are the sweetest.

This book is largely based on my PhD dissertation. In St Andrews, I was lucky to work under the supervision of two great scholars. I owe a lot to both, at a professional as well as personal level. My first supervisor Professor Ray Hinnebusch provided guidance, support and feedback. Ray is a great academic and a true gentleman. Professor Nick Rengger was a constant source of encouragement and guidance. Nick was the kindest, most generous and brightest person I have ever met, and I miss him greatly.

I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends in St Andrews. Their friendship made my PhD years so enjoyable. I am so grateful; I would not hate you even if you were to become sad, boring, wannabe hipsters.