Cati, Mehmet Osman (2013) The political economy of Syrian foreign policy 1949‐1963. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18255 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SYRIAN FOREIGN POLICY 1949-1963 MEHMET OSMAN CATI Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Politics and International Studies 2013 Department of Politics and International Studies School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and umderstood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Ori=ental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material P'reser|1led for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the publisheed or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknovv edged in the work'A'hıch I present for examination. igned Date: ABSTRACT This study examines Syria’s foreign policy in the post-colonial period and presents Syria as a state that exhibited the basic characteristics of the states of the global South that came to independent statehood burdened with varying degrees of underdevelopment, vulnerability, dependence and permeability. It is contended that foreign policy in a country like Syria was bound to be preoccupied with the task of overcoming these debilitating conditions or making them manageable. A political economy approach in which socio-economic needs of the country are taken as a source of foreign policy and the acquisition of foreign economic resources as a major foreign policy objective is adopted as a point of departure in this study. While Syria is presented as part of the global South, it is recognised that Syria has a shared Arab identity with the other Arab states of the Middle East. Therefore this study also draws on Constructivist insights on the impact of shared-identities on state behaviour. Moreover, as it is recognised that policy makers have multiple objectives that may reinforce or undermine one another, two other major objectives are considered alongside mobilisation of resources for economic development. These are the goals of independence/autonomy and leadership maintenance/regime consolidation. This study contends that the interaction of these three objectives as a complex process that involves trade offs and changing priorities is worth pursuing because it provides fundamental insights into a polity’s foreign policy and contributes to its understanding. This study also makes a case for and provides empirical evidence that reflects the interconnectedness of ‘considerations of plenty’ and ‘considerations of power’; the overlapping of domestic politics and foreign policy; and the contextual nature of the separation of issues of ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics. With its emphasis on the quest for resources to foster economic development, this study makes a contribution to the study of foreign policy and enhances our understanding of the processes of state formation and regime consolidation. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have incurred a long list of debts researching and writing this thesis. It is my honour to acknowledge the gratitude I owe to everyone who helped me complete this study. My deepest appreciation goes to Professor Charles Tripp who kind-heartedly took over as my supervisor in the later stages of my study and made its successful completion possible and to Professor Eberhard Kienle who supervised my work in its initial stages and contributed to its development. I have greatly benefited from their insightful feedback, support and understanding. I am also greatful to Dr. Katerina Dalacoura of the LSE and Dr. Adham Saouli of University of Edinburgh for their invaluable comments, encouragement and help. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor William Hale and Professor Trevor Marchand for the invaluable support they provided when I needed it most. At the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), I also would like to thank Research Tutors of the Department of Politics and International Studies Dr. John Sidel and Dr. Matthew Nelson for their assistance and backing. I am also grateful to Dr. Bengisu Rona and Muaadh Salih for enabling me to follow the undergraduate Arabic courses at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies. I would like to express my thanks to all Syrians who helped me in my research during my fieldwork in Syria. I am also deeply grateful to many teachers, professors, colleagues, friends and family members who have been gracious with their assistance, advice, support and encouragement at different stages of my studies and academic pursuits. Permit me to mention Professors Ersin Kalaycıoğlu and Gün Kut at Boğaziçi University; Professors Şule Kut and Nihal Kara at Marmara University; Adnan Çevik, Bülent Yorulmaz, Aynur Yıldırım, Nuray Ayhan, Erkan Turhan, Haşim Kafalı, Bekir Tuncer, Ergün Demirel and Ali Yıldız at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University; Sadek Celal al-'Azm and Adnan Sulayman at Damascus University; Michel Kilo, Ibrahim Hamidi, Abdallah Dardari, Muhammad Hussein, Hassan Abbas, Patrick Seale, Stephane Valter, Annabelle Böttcher, Jubin Goodarzi, Sonoko Sunayama, Ken Imai, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Yan Lambiel, Fathi, Nadine Menderes, Mevlüt Çavuşoglu, Özgür Yalvaç, Barney Speed-Grenfell, Atila Kalaycıoğlu, Bill Jameson, Tony Minoldo, Anna and Kostas Chronopoulou, Alison and Ismail Tokalak, Öznur Ayman, Ayhan Kaya, Erhan Doğan, Yılmaz Pirli, Meryem Kuzey, Murat Tuncer, Faik Yarar, Abdullah Çatı, Bedri Emrah, iv Beşir Oktay, Sururi Baykal, Göktürk Işıkpınar, Herbert Saller and Caroline Delph. They deserve my warmest appreciation and gratitude. My endless thanks to Alpay Beler for his help and encouragement which has always been timely and effective. I am most grateful for his friendship, enduring support and the best of times we spent together. I have also greatly benefited from the language and research facilities of the following institutions during this long enterprise: Institut Français d’Etudes Arabes de Damas and Asad Library in Damascus; the libraries of Boğaziçi University, Bilkent University and Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University in Turkey; the British Library, the libraries of SOAS and the London School of Economics and Political Science in London; and Bodleian Library in Oxford. I acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of their staff. I stand indebted to Dr. Patrick Keane, Consultant Vascular Surgeon Mr. Daryll Baker and the staff of the Royal Free Hospital for their care and help in my recovery from the rather unexpected complications of a critical operation. That whole saga has taught me to appreciate the significance of the quite simple yet the most precious things we naturally take for granted. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Patricia Smith who read the draft chapters of this thesis and offered valuable comments. She never tired of encouraging me to cross the final bridge and finish this study. I am most grateful for that and for the organic hand roasted coffee batches that lifted my spirits each time they unexpectedly arrived. This thesis is dedicated to my mother Muazzez Çatı and to the memory of my father Fethullah Çatı as well as to my siblings Raci, Özgür and Öznur. Without their love, encouragement and unwavering support this study would never have been completed. They deserve far more gratitude than I can express here. v ABBREVIATIONS and CURRENCIES Abbreviations APD Arab Political Documents ARR Arab Report and Record ASBP Arab Socialist Ba'th Party BBC/SWB British Broadcasting Corporation, Summary of WorldBroadcasts, Part IV, The Arab World, Israel, Greece, Turkey and Persia BSL Banque de Syrie et du Liban CBS Central Bank of Syria CCC Currency and Credit Council CIA Central Intelligence Agency DMZ Demilitarised Zone DLF Development Loan Fund EIU/QERS Economist Intelligence Unit, Quarterly Economic Review of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan ESE Etudes sur la Syrie economique, [cited as ESE, (year of data)]. FPA Foreign Policy Analysis FRUS Foreign Relations o f the United States GNP Gross National Product HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Countries IBRD (World Bank) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IMF International Monetary Fund IPC Iraq Petroleum Company IR International Relations MECS Middle East Contemporary Survey MEE Middle East Economist MEED Middle East Economic Digest MEEP Middle East Economic Papers MEES Middle East Economic Survey MEJ The Middle East Journal MENA Middle East and North Africa Mizan Mizan Newsletter: A Review of Soviet Writing on the Middle East vi NCPE New Comparative Political Economy NIEO New International Economic Order Rapport (year of data) Rapport (year o f data) sur l ’economie syrienne SAR Syrian Arab Republic SCP Syrian Communist Party SSA Syrian Statistical Abstract SSNP Syrian Social Nationalist Party Tapline Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company UAR United Arab Republic UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Administration Currencies SL Syrian Liras (Pounds) $ US Dollars £ Pounds Sterling DM German Marks FF French Francs vii NOTE on TRANSLITERATION As a general rule, Arabic words and names have been spelled as simply as possible, basically in accordance with the system applied by the International Journal of Middle East Studies, but without diacritics and with ayn and hamzas indicated by a prime. Moreover if currently used, English names of countries, cities, rivers etc.