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London School of Economics and Political Science View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by LSE Theses Online London School of Economics and Political Science Understanding and Explaining US-Syrian Relations: Conflict and Cooperation, and the Role of Ideology Jasmine K. Gani A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, November 2011. 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the author's prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 114,900 words. (Approved word limit: 115,000). 2 Abstract This thesis is a study of US-Syrian relations, and the legacy of mistrust between the two states. While there has been a recent growth in the study of Syria’s domestic and regional politics, its foreign policy in a global systemic context remains understudied within mainstream International Relations (IR), Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), and even Middle Eastern studies, despite Syria’s geo-political centrality in the region. The primary purpose of the thesis is to analyse and understand the driving factors in US-Syrian relations, both the continuities – distinctive in the context of the region’s dynamic political landscape – and the rarer instances of discontinuity. By analysing the causes and constituents of US-Syrian relations, the thesis will also challenge a purely realist and power-political explanation that has dominated the discourse on Middle Eastern foreign policy; without discarding the value of alternative conceptual explanations, the thesis will argue that Syria’s position towards the US has been significantly (though not exclusively) influenced by a politically embedded set of ideas and principles that have evolved from an anti-colonial Arab nationalist ideology. Though recent constructivist debates have (rightly) brought the role of identity and social structure back to the fore, ideological or value-laden motives are still at times treated dismissively as an instrument of power politics (particularly in relation to Middle Eastern regimes) or, conversely, as a sign of regime irrationality. The apparent methodological impasse in credibly connecting ideational motives with foreign policy implementation and the perceived incompatibility between ideas and pragmatic decision-making have prevented a deeper and more sophisticated exploration of ideological influences within IR. Thus the second aim of the thesis is to redress this imbalance by introducing a methodological framework of analysis for studying ideology in foreign policy-making; this will be operationalised by historically charting the development and influence of ideas on Syria’s position towards the US, drawing upon original archival material that has hitherto not been utilised in existing literature on this subject. I argue that in Syria’s case state interests and security concerns are not dichotomous to ideational values; rather the two are coterminous goals in Syrian foreign policy. In doing so the thesis employs historical analysis and FPA methods to assess the significance of the following factors in influencing Syria’s ideology, and thereby its relations with the US: Syria’s colonised past and contemporary US interventionism in the region; the policies and ideology of Israel; and finally the structure of the Syrian regime, and its connection to public opinion. 3 Contents List of Acronyms.....................................................................................................................6 Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................7 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................9 2. Operationalising Ideology and Defining Syrian Arab Nationalism ............................43 2.1 The ‘Problem' of Ideology...................................................................................45 2.2 Core and Peripheral Principles............................................................................61 2.3 Affiliated Ideologies: Arab nationalism and Socialism.......................................73 2.4 Rival Ideologies: Arab Nationalism and Islamism..............................................81 2.5 Conclusion...........................................................................................................88 3. The Emergence of US-Syrian Relations: From Truman to Kennedy .........................90 3.1 The early Syrian State and US Isolationism........................................................92 3.2 The Rising US Role and Arab Disappointment...................................................97 3.3 Truman’s Policies and Syrian Scepticism.........................................................106 3.4 US-Syrian Relations under Eisenhower............................................................119 3.5 Syria and the US after the UAR: from ally to enemy........................................125 3.6 Conclusion.........................................................................................................131 4. Syria’s Isolation and the Birth of the US-Israeli Special Relationship .....................134 4.1 Hafez Asad’s Ascendancy in the Ba’th party....................................................136 4.2 The 1967 Arab-Israeli War................................................................................141 4.3 Aftermath of the War.........................................................................................147 4.4 Syria’s Marginalisation and the Advent of a New Regime...............................161 4.5 Asad’s Pragmatism and the Impact on US-Syrian Relations............................167 4.6 Conclusion..........................................................................................................176 5. US-Syrian Engagement: Disengagement Talks 1973 – 75 ..........................................178 5.1 The US and Syria: Perceptions, Goals and Strategies.......................................180 5.2 Terms of Syrian-Israeli Disengagement and US-Syrian Rapprochement.........190 5.3 Egypt ‘Defects’..................................................................................................200 5.4 Conclusion.........................................................................................................214 4 6. US-Syrian Cooperation in the Post-Cold War Era .....................................................218 6.1 Syria’s Participation in the Gulf War and Implications for Ideology................219 6.2 The Launch of the Madrid Talks – Breakthrough in the Middle East...............228 6.3 Transition from Bush to Clinton........................................................................234 6.4 Implications for US-Syrian relations.................................................................241 6.5 Explaining the Failure of the Madrid Process...................................................246 6.6 Conclusion.........................................................................................................265 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................268 Bibliography........................................................................................................................285 5 List of Acronyms AIPAC American Israeli Public Affairs Committee ARAMCO Arabian American Oil Company CENTO Central Treaty Organisation CIA Central Intelligence Agency COS Chief of Staff DMZ Demilitarised Zone ERP European Reconstruction Programme FO Foreign Office (British Government) FPA Foreign Policy Analysis FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States GCC Gulf Cooperation Council ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDF Israeli Defence Force IMF International Monetary Fund IR International Relations MEC Middle East Command NA National Archives NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NIE National Intelligence Estimate NSC National Security Council OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries PLO Palestinian Liberation Organisation POW Prisoner of War SD State Department (United States Government) TAPLINE Trans Arabian Pipeline Company TWA Transworld Airlines (American) UAR United Arab Republic UN United Nations UNDOF United Nations Disengagement Observer Force UNSC United Nations Security Council US United States of America USINT United States Intelligence USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 6 Acknowledgments The PhD has been a long road; but I have met and been accompanied by many people along the way who have helped and supported me, and contributed to the thesis in some form. It is a pleasure to acknowledge and thank them here. I would like to express my profound gratitude and appreciation for the invaluable support and guidance of my supervisors, Professor Fred Halliday and Professor Fawaz
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