Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa region. He is Managing Director at Azure Strategy Consulting, and an associate fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. He has also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman. His most recent book is Domestic Policy Making and Governance in Saudi Arabia (co-editor) (2021).

• Introduction1. Syria and World Order2. The Assad regime: a study in survival3. From Arab uprising to civil war4. Russia's ally or Putin's poodle?5. Iran and regional relations6. The limits of Western interestConclusion

Neil Quilliam has produced one of the most readable and analytically-rich studies of modern Syria to date. Using a wide analytical lens, he takes the reader on a journey that perfectly contextualizes the longevity of the Asad dynasty. He not only ably provides an explanation for the regime’s survival strategy but also explains in detail Asad’s carefully crafted regional and international relationships to shield it from pressure. Successfully securing readmission into the Arab League, despite over a decade of regional isolations and civil strife, provides the final example of this brutal regime’s survival strategy, which rightly forms the subtitle of this outstanding book.