Abstract:

This study utilizes Leon Trotsky’s Uneven and Combined Development approach to analyze post-Arab Revolts Syria’s sociopolitical transformation by focusing on the concept of “international”. The existing analyses examine the post-Arab Revolts Syria’s sociopolitical transformation by focusing on the resilience of the authoritarian Bashar Assad regime and the dynamics of neoliberal transformation, due to methodological nationalism and lacking of a holistic framework. In this respect, the main argument of this study is to present the effects of interaction between international and local dynamics on Syria’s sociopolitical transformation. To this end, the study analyzes the outcomes of two distinctive processes – “War Economy” and “Reconstruction” – which are thought to be decisive regarding post-Arab Revolts Syria’s sociopolitical transformation. The conclusion of the study is two-fold. Firstly, the neoliberal political-economic dynamics are effective in understanding the Syria’s socio-political transformation – similar to the pre-Arab Revolts period. Secondly, the merging of the dynamics of sociopolitical transformation with the global and regional geopolitical competition process has further deteriorated the social unevenness and repression.

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