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Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011

This thesis investigates two events in modern Syrian history to understand military behavior under authoritarian regimes. It looks at and examines the behavior of the Syrian military in two cases: The Hama massacre of 1982, and the Syrian civil war from 2011 up until the end of 2012. The research st...

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Main Author: Abulebada, Namat
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Abulebada, Namat
author_browse Abulebada, Namat
author_facet Abulebada, Namat
author_sort Abulebada, Namat
collection Thesis
description This thesis investigates two events in modern Syrian history to understand military behavior under authoritarian regimes. It looks at and examines the behavior of the Syrian military in two cases: The Hama massacre of 1982, and the Syrian civil war from 2011 up until the end of 2012. The research studies how the same military, under similar conditions, could exhibit different behaviors when given orders of repression during anti-regime civil uprisings. The main research question tackled in the study is: why did large-scale military defections of out-group (Sunni) soldiers and officers occur in 2011 but not in 1982? Drawing on global literature on military loyalty and defections, as well as primary sources of the 2011 events, I focus on the nature of the two civil uprisings, and how they were perceived by the soldiers and officers of the Syrian military. The main results of investigation reflect on theories of ethnic stacking, military soldiers’ grievances, and the nature of the civil uprisings as enabling or inhibiting factors to military defection. The results of the thesis will be particularly useful to reflect on military loyalties in an increasingly militarized world.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:54.296Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3141 Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011 Abulebada, Namat This thesis investigates two events in modern Syrian history to understand military behavior under authoritarian regimes. It looks at and examines the behavior of the Syrian military in two cases: The Hama massacre of 1982, and the Syrian civil war from 2011 up until the end of 2012. The research studies how the same military, under similar conditions, could exhibit different behaviors when given orders of repression during anti-regime civil uprisings. The main research question tackled in the study is: why did large-scale military defections of out-group (Sunni) soldiers and officers occur in 2011 but not in 1982? Drawing on global literature on military loyalty and defections, as well as primary sources of the 2011 events, I focus on the nature of the two civil uprisings, and how they were perceived by the soldiers and officers of the Syrian military. The main results of investigation reflect on theories of ethnic stacking, military soldiers’ grievances, and the nature of the civil uprisings as enabling or inhibiting factors to military defection. The results of the thesis will be particularly useful to reflect on military loyalties in an increasingly militarized world. 2023-06-15T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2103 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3141/viewcontent/Namat_Abulebada_Thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain coup-proofing ethnic stacking military defection grievances civil uprising perception Syria Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
spellingShingle coup-proofing
ethnic stacking
military defection
grievances
civil uprising
perception
Syria
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Abulebada, Namat
Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title_full Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title_fullStr Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title_full_unstemmed Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title_short Repress or Defect: Military Defections in Syria in 1982 and 2011
title_sort repress or defect military defections in syria in 1982 and 2011
topic coup-proofing
ethnic stacking
military defection
grievances
civil uprising
perception
Syria
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2103
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3141/viewcontent/Namat_Abulebada_Thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT abulebadanamat repressordefectmilitarydefectionsinsyriain1982and2011