Nikolaos van Dam is a specialist on Syria who served as Special Envoy of the Netherlands for Syria in 2015-2-16. He has previously served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq.
In this important book, Nikolaos van Dam explores and explains how the Asad dynasty has come to rule Syria for about half a century and keep the complex patchwork of minorities, factions and opponents securely under control for such an unprecedented long period.