The Case Study tests your ability to objectively analyze a complex political conflict in the Middle East and form insights into political dynamics and behavior.
Structue
Please organize your paper into three sections:
● Causes of the Syrian civil war
● Evolution of the Syrian civil war
● Prescriptive analysis
You should address all the questions below, and support your answers extensively.
Causes of the Syrian civil war
● What were the regime’s political legitimacy foundations under Hafez Assad?
What weaknesses were apparent in those foundations?
● What pressures on political legitimacy emerged under Bashar Assad?
Evolution of the Syrian civil war
● The regime chose to react to protests with violence while rejecting concessions.
Why do you believe it reacted this way?
● Why did a substantial part of the Syrian population not support the revolution?
● Why were extremists able to gain power and influence within the insurgency?
Policies
● Do you think Bashar Assad acted in a manner that maximized the regime’s
chances of survival? Why or why not?
● What long-term political system would best suit Syria and why? That is, what
form of government would be most likely to enjoy legitimacy and stability?
Format The format is (font size 12, double spaced, emailed in a Word document). The word limit is 3,000 words. It is there to keep your analysis focused. You may write less than that if you feel you have said enough. Papers that exceed the limit will lose half a letter grade.
Grading Rubric Causes 35% Evolution 35% Prescriptions 30%
Papers will lose points for:
1. Logic errors 2. Factual errors 3. Spelling and grammar mistakes 4. Unclear wording 5. Bias or lack of objectivity 6. Superficial or unsubstantiated arguments 7. Loaded or emotive language (good for op-ed writing but not for political analysis) 8. Lack of empathy: Empathy is not sympathy (compassion) but the ability to put yourself in others’ place and see things from their point of view. That includes actors you might dislike (extremists, dictators, either side’s supporters, etc.).
Course Concepts
As you write your analysis ask yourself whether the course concepts you’ve learned can help explain how things unfolded in Syria. What have you learned about political legitimacy? What do you know about security states and how they behave? What about political Islam, corruption, modernization, etc? These ideas are a guide to thinking about the problems and formulating answers but they are certainly not your only ones and you should only refer to them if you believe they apply – you all have your own ways of seeing the issues. Use them.
Literature and Research
Your required background reading for this assignment is Syria’s Uprising and the Fracturing of the Levant by Emile Hokayem (available at the bookstore) and the Syria materials listed on the syllabus. Please note that a case study is not a literature or book review. These readings are not the subject of your analysis but simply a background. If you do not agree with the authors they can still help inform your own analysis. In either case you can assume the data they convey is reliable.
A case study is not a research paper but an analysis that assumes your reader is aware of the basics of the conflict. You do not need to collect new data but please use citations (any style you prefer) when borrowing from others’ work. You may certainly do your own original research and I encourage that but it is possible to produce an excellent analysis from reading your assigned material alone.
