In Search of Greater Syria - by Christopher Solomon (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) is one of the most enigmatic and active political forces in the Middle East. For observers in the West, the SSNP is regarded as a far-right organization, subservient to the Baathist government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which dictates its activities from Damascus. However, the SSNP's complicated history and its ideology of Pan-Syrianism has meant the party has been overlooked and forgotten by the daily output of news, analysis, studies and policy recommendations. Very little academic scholarship has been dedicated to understanding its origins, identity, and influence.

Addressing the need for scholarship on the SSNP, this book is a political history from the party's foundation in 1932 to today. A comprehensive and objective study on the little known nationalist group, the author uses interviews from current members to gain insights into its everyday activities, goals, social interstices and nuances. Given the SSNP's history of violence, their own persecution, influence on other secular parties in the region, and their impact in Syria and Lebanon's politics, the book's analysis sheds light on the party's status in Lebanon and its potential role in a future post-war Syria. The SSNP is gaining popularity among regime supporters in Syria and will be one part of understanding the political developments on the ground. This book is essential reading for those wanting to understand the SSNP, its motives, and prospects.

Review Quotes

In Search of Greater Syria is the most detailed account ever written on the fascinating political movement of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.Christopher Solomon analyses with great skill how this relatively small anti-sectarian and secular party, which eschewed ethnicity and language in favor of history and territory, has been attractive for people from minorities in both Syria and Lebanon. He shows eloquently how the SSNP developed from a fierce competitor of the Ba'th Party in Syria during the 1950s, into being its ally during the Syrian civil war (which started in 2011). While the SNNP over the decades pragmatically scaled down its original ideal of a wider Fertile Crescent unity (including Iraq) in favor of a more restricted unity of a Greater Syria (including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine), the pan-Arab ideals of the Ba'th regime in Syria likewise faded down in favor of a kind of pan-Syrianism, as a result of which both parties, ideologically speaking, came closer to one another. This study shows convincingly that the SSNP will be an essential factor to watch in the future, as long as this party does not overplay its hand, as a result of which it would risk renewed persecution.

Chris Solomon provides an insightful and invaluable account into one of the oldest political movements in the Levant. Abundant with assassinations, betrayals and military coups, there is no dull moment in the history of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party which continues to be very relevant today as Solomon demonstrates in this book. It is a vital resource for anyone aiming to understand Levantine politics and modern history.

In Search of Greater Syria is interesting, bright, eloquent and readable, presenting the reader with the first comprehensive picture of the history of the SSNP. This is therefore a must-read book for anyone seeking to learn the history of the party but also the turbulent history of Syria and Lebanon.
Eyal Zisser, Tel Aviv University, Israel

About the Author

Christopher Solomon is an analyst specializing in Middle East history and politics, and works for a US defense consultancy in Washington, D.C., USA.