[The hardback has a graphic cover (paper over board). We are currently selling hardcovers for the paperback price until next February when the paperback edition is scheduled for release.]

To make a "Clean Break," neocons close to the US administration are pushing for military action against Syria in the wake of the Isreali invasion of Lebanon. On the other hand, reformers within Syria are becoming more aggresive in seeking change--and suffering a tough response from the government. Will Syria emerge as a democracy? Or will it descend into the chaos that has engulfed Lebanon and Iraq?

This book by the distinguished German scholar and journalist Carsten Wieland is the most recent and up to date look at the dynamics of the Syrian state. The author probes the politics, family, economic, and regional pressures on the young Syrian president, Bashar al-Asad and elucidates in clear, clean prose the sources of authority that keep the regime in power.

Syria - Ballots or Bullets? is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the social, economic, and political makeup of this pivotal Middle Eastern country.