Beyong Syria's borders : a history of territorial disputes in the Middle East / Emma Lundgren Jorum.

Originally published: 2014.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1.Introduction -- The relevance of the book -- Disposition -- Theorising territories and borders -- Sources -- A Note on Terminology -- Translation and transliteration -- 2.The consolidation of the territorial state and the political development of the Syrian Arab Republic -- From Ottoman provinces to French mandate: The old world comes to an end -- Allied administration of Geographical Syria: Frustrated hopes of Arab independence -- The Paris Peace Conference and Arab attempts to establish 'facts on the ground' -- The imposition of mandates, 1920 -- The territory of the Syrian Arab Republic takes shape -- The internal consolidation of the Syrian territory -- Striving for the independence of what? The nationalist movement and the Syrian territory -- The Syrian post-independence territory -- Post-independence political developments -- Political developments in post-independence Syria --

Note continued: Bringing a fragmented territory together: Post-independence state building -- The beating heart of Arabism: Defining the state -- The external consolidation of the Syrian state: International and regional relations -- 3.'We are not strangers here': Syrian policy towards Lebanon -- The National Bloc's 'Syria first' strategy -- Syrian policies towards Lebanon, 1947-1974: Decades of tension -- Syrian policies towards Lebanon during the War, 1975-1990: Mediation, military intervention and the establishment of Syrian hegemony -- Wartime indications of Syrian lack of respect for Lebanese sovereignty -- The 1989 Taif Agreement -- Syrian policies towards post-war Lebanon, 1991-2005: Securing continued Syrian control -- Bashar al-Asad takes over -- Syrian withdrawal: When? -- Syrian policies towards Lebanon, 2005 -- 2010: The fall and rise of Syrian influence -- Syrian-Lebanese relations in the post-withdrawal period --

Note continued: Questions regarding the Syrian-Lebanese border -- Syrian rhetoric on the post-withdrawal period -- Conclusions: Syrian policies towards Lebanon: Irredentism or something else? -- 4.From forgotten to stolen territory: Syrian policies towards Hatay -- From possible partition to Turkish annexation -- Syrian reactions to the loss of Alexandretta -- Early independence: Syrian policies, 1946-1969 -- Syrian policies towards Hatay, 1970-1998 -- The 1998 turning point in Syrian-Turkish relations -- Bashar al-Asad takes over: No claims, no recognition continues -- Syrian maps after 2003 -- The Syrian uprising: Hatay resurfaces -- Conclusions: Syrian policies towards Hatay -- 5.The Golan Heights: From the Arab to the Syrian Cause -- Syrian policy towards the Golan Heights, 1967-1990 -- Negotiations with Israel, 1991-2000 -- Bashar al-Asad takes over -- Work on the ground: Beyond war and negotiations -- Activities across the disengagement line --

Note continued: Conclusions: Syrian policies towards the Golan Heights -- 6.Conclusions -- Possible explanations for differences in Syrian policies towards Lebanon, Hatay and the Golan Heights -- Prospects for the future?

Lebanon, together with the province of Hatay in Turkey (containing Antakya) and the Golan Heights were all part of French mandate Syria, but are now all outside the boundaries of the modern Syrian state. The policies and reactions of Syria both to the loss of these territories and to the states that have either absorbed, annexed or emerged from them (Lebanon, Turkey and Israel) are the focus of Emma Jorum's book. Jorum uses the differences in policy and discourse when it comes to each of these three cases to highlight the nature of territorial dispute in the region, and the processes of state-building and nationalism more generally. Through the examination of Syria's policies concerning these lost territories, Jorum plots and analyses Syrian-Turkish, Syrian-Lebanese and Syrian-Israeli relations, explaining why some losses have been pushed to one side and others remain at the forefront in Syria's international relations and diplomacy efforts.