SYRIA – BEGINNING OF THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS, 1970 – 1973

Israel’s military victory over the Arabs in June 1967 provoked a widespread reaction and a search for a way out throughout the Arab world and, in the case of Syria, led to the overthrow of the ruling regime. In the autumn of 1970 Ḥāfiẓ al-Asad seized power, and his regime represented the arrival of new elites from rural backgrounds to replace the traditional urban politicians and representatives of business circles. It was an authoritarian regime whose power base was the army and the Ba c th Party. The sole ruler wielded absolute power and became the object of a personality cult. The regime adopted socialist-type economic policies and advocated egalitarian reforms.