{"id":{"repo_id":"nps","oai_identifier":"oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/42839"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/nps/oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/42839","repository":{"repo_id":"nps","name":"Naval Postgraduate School","base_url":"https://calhoun.nps.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Businessmen and butchers: the domestic roots of Syria's changing foreign policy","abstract":"What explains Syria's pro-Western foreign policy in recent years? The most common argument--that the shift occurred because of the demise of the USSR, Syria's primary patron--is, as this thesis demonstrates, inaccurate. Rather, this thesis proves that changes in Syria's foreign policy began in the mid-l980s --not in 1991 --and were driven primarily by domestic economic factors, not by international structures. Syria's increasingly pro-Western foreign policy was a byproduct of economic liberalization policies (infiraj), begun in the early 1980s. For economic liberalization to succeed, Syria had to attract foreign -- primarily Western -- capital. In addition, the liberalization changed Syria's class structure, expanding and promoting to positions of influence a new class of Western-educated and/or -looking entrepreneurs. Both of these developments pushed Syria in new foreign policy directions well before the collapse of the USSR. Its behavior in the Gulf War and at the Madrid Conference was more a reflection of altered Syrian internal politics than of the recognition that the United States was the only true superpower in a changed international system. This thesis has important policy and theoretical applications. It identifies the driving forces of Syria's current foreign policy behavior, and it pushes theorists to take seriously the domestic roots of foreign policy-making.","abstract_html":"What explains Syria's pro-Western foreign policy in recent years? The most common argument--that the shift occurred because of the demise of the USSR, Syria's primary patron--is, as this thesis demonstrates, inaccurate. Rather, this thesis proves that changes in Syria's foreign policy began in the mid-l980s --not in 1991 --and were driven primarily by domestic economic factors, not by international structures. Syria's increasingly pro-Western foreign policy was a byproduct of economic liberalization policies (infiraj), begun in the early 1980s. For economic liberalization to succeed, Syria had to attract foreign -- primarily Western -- capital. In addition, the liberalization changed Syria's class structure, expanding and promoting to positions of influence a new class of Western-educated and/or -looking entrepreneurs. Both of these developments pushed Syria in new foreign policy directions well before the collapse of the USSR. Its behavior in the Gulf War and at the Madrid Conference was more a reflection of altered Syrian internal politics than of the recognition that the United States was the only true superpower in a changed international system. This thesis has important policy and theoretical applications. It identifies the driving forces of Syria's current foreign policy behavior, and it pushes theorists to take seriously the domestic roots of foreign policy-making.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Meyer, Michael B."],"institution":"Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Robinson, Glenn E.","Wirtz, James J."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1994,"date_issued":"1994-12","date_published":"1994-12","updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:26:05Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10945/42839","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Robinson, Glenn E.","Wirtz, James J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Meyer, Michael B."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["December 1994"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-08-13T20:26:46Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-13T20:26:46Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1994-12"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10945/42839"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["What explains Syria's pro-Western foreign policy in recent years? The most common argument--that the shift occurred because of the demise of the USSR, Syria's primary patron--is, as this thesis demonstrates, inaccurate. Rather, this thesis proves that changes in Syria's foreign policy began in the mid-l980s --not in 1991 --and were driven primarily by domestic economic factors, not by international structures. Syria's increasingly pro-Western foreign policy was a byproduct of economic liberalization policies (infiraj), begun in the early 1980s. For economic liberalization to succeed, Syria had to attract foreign -- primarily Western -- capital. In addition, the liberalization changed Syria's class structure, expanding and promoting to positions of influence a new class of Western-educated and/or -looking entrepreneurs. Both of these developments pushed Syria in new foreign policy directions well before the collapse of the USSR. Its behavior in the Gulf War and at the Madrid Conference was more a reflection of altered Syrian internal politics than of the recognition that the United States was the only true superpower in a changed international system. This thesis has important policy and theoretical applications. It identifies the driving forces of Syria's current foreign policy behavior, and it pushes theorists to take seriously the domestic roots of foreign policy-making."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Businessmen and butchers: the domestic roots of Syria's changing foreign policy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Robinson, Glenn E.","Wirtz, James J."],"dc:creator":["Meyer, Michael B."],"dc:date":["December 1994"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-08-13T20:26:46Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-13T20:26:46Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1994-12"],"dc:description.abstract":["What explains Syria's pro-Western foreign policy in recent years? The most common argument--that the shift occurred because of the demise of the USSR, Syria's primary patron--is, as this thesis demonstrates, inaccurate. Rather, this thesis proves that changes in Syria's foreign policy began in the mid-l980s --not in 1991 --and were driven primarily by domestic economic factors, not by international structures. Syria's increasingly pro-Western foreign policy was a byproduct of economic liberalization policies (infiraj), begun in the early 1980s. For economic liberalization to succeed, Syria had to attract foreign -- primarily Western -- capital. In addition, the liberalization changed Syria's class structure, expanding and promoting to positions of influence a new class of Western-educated and/or -looking entrepreneurs. Both of these developments pushed Syria in new foreign policy directions well before the collapse of the USSR. Its behavior in the Gulf War and at the Madrid Conference was more a reflection of altered Syrian internal politics than of the recognition that the United States was the only true superpower in a changed international system. This thesis has important policy and theoretical applications. It identifies the driving forces of Syria's current foreign policy behavior, and it pushes theorists to take seriously the domestic roots of foreign policy-making."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10945/42839"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School"],"dc:rights":["This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States."],"dc:title":["Businessmen and butchers: the domestic roots of Syria's changing foreign policy"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:26:05Z"}