Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect by Noam Chomsky, Reese Erlich

“Fascinating and full of insights…. A welcome antidote to the flood of ill-informed blather that has deformed our understanding of this alarming crisis.”
    â€”Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow and All the Shah's Men
    â€œJournalist Reese Erlich guides the reader through the labyrinth of Middle East history and politics that led to the Syrian Civil War. Since the fallout from that conflict has global ramifications, this well-written book is a must read.”
    â€”Conn Hallinan, columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus
    â€œRead this book and you will receive an in-depth, objective, and truly fair understanding of what is taking place in the Middle East at this moment. We need Reese Erlich in the mass media.”
    â€”Peter Coyote, actor, author of Sleeping Where I Fall
    â€œWell before the US invasion of Iraq, Reese Erlich's firsthand reporting challenged the official justification for that effort—and the mainstream media's failure to report on it accurately. Since then, Erlich has combined independent reporting with straightforward political analysis and expert media criticism. Inside Syria continues that important work. It parses that region's conflicts, considers the historical and geopolitical forces at work, and skips the usual forms of demonization and mystification. If the news from Syria doesn't make sense to you, read this book.”
    â€”Peter Richardson, San Francisco State University, author of A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America
    â€œErlich's work is a reliable astrolabe and an essential guide in navigating the shifting political winds of the Syrian war and regional conflict. Meticulously investigated.”
    â€”Meghan Nuttall Sayres, editor of Love and Pomegranates: Artists and Wayfarers on Iran
    â€œThe strength of the work lies in the interviews and firsthand observations that other types of analyses may lack.”
    â€”Dr. Amir Sharifi, Department of Linguistics, California State University, Long Beach



Published 2014 by Prometheus Books
    Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect . Copyright © 2014 by Reese Erlich. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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    Top cover image © Media Bakery
    Bottom cover image © Shutterstock
    Jacket design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger
    Unless otherwise specified, all images in the photo insert are by Reese Erlich
    Maps by William L. Nelson
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    The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
    Erlich, Reese W., 1947–
    Inside Syria : the backstory of their civil war and what the