📝 Description
Christopher Phillips reconstructs the Syrian war as a contest not only among domestic actors but among regional and international powers whose agendas clashed over Damascus. Drawing on diplomatic interviews, policy documents, and secondary scholarship, he narrates how the United States, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Gulf states, and European actors perceived opportunity and threat—and how their moves constrained or empowered local forces. The concept at the heart of the book is rivalry: overlapping interventions that produced stalemate, escalation, or sudden reversals. Phillips avoids moralizing scorecards and instead asks how institutions, risk tolerance, and domestic politics within each capital shaped choices. The result is an anatomy of decision‑making under uncertainty. Chapters explain why some strategies—limited support to vetted rebels, de‑escalation zones, chemical deterrence—failed to translate into durable political outcomes. The author’s clear prose keeps complex diplomacy intelligible without sacrificing nuance. For readers looking to situate Syria within a reshaped Middle East order, the book provides a map of interests and leverage that extends beyond the war itself. It is both history and cautionary tale: when great‑power competition meets a fragmented civil conflict, humanitarian imperatives are the first casualties and accountability the last.