FEARING EVOLUTION:

Syria's Baathists Fear Evolution and Extinction (Reza Aslan, June 17, 2005, LA Times)

Last week, when Syria's President-for-life, Bashar Assad, convened the 10th Baath Party congress in Damascus, he promised to loosen the party's monopoly on power to encourage greater political participation among the country's disaffected population. But Assad's concession was less a sign of noblesse oblige than a reflection of just how weak and isolated the nearly 60-year-old party has become.

Ever since the U.S. invasion of Iraq put an end to the only other Baathist regime in the region, Syria's Baath Party has been forced to cast aside what little remained of the quixotic, transnationalist ideals that gave birth to the movement seven decades ago in favor of a far more modest domestic agenda of political and economic reform. [...]

A new generation of Baath leaders has been struggling to redefine traditional Baathism as an ideology of nationalism, patriotism and even democracy. Many of these so-called neo-Baathists initially looked to Bashar Assad to lead the party reforms. But despite increasing international and domestic pressure, Assad has thus far taken few steps toward reform. Still, there are many Syrians who confidently predict an eventual voluntary "de-Baathification" of the country, one that would match the forced de-Baathification of Iraq. Whether this will happen under the younger Assad's rule, however, remains to be seen.

The problem is that de-Baathification would be followed by de-Alawitification, so Assad won't lead the process.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 17, 2005 8:33 AM