Assadization
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Assadization,[1][2][3] sometimes also called Alawization,[4][5][6][7] refers to the process of consolidation of power in Ba'athist Syria, which started under President Hafez al-Assad. Assadization had no clear time frame, with it beginning almost immediately after the Assad family came to power and continuing until the fall of the Assad regime. The desire of the Assad family to build a personalistic dictatorship led to the general Assadization of all spheres of life in the country, including the army, the party, the education system, as well as to the spread of propaganda and the cult of personality. The term "Assadization" has also become a household word in some news articles.[8][9]
The debunking of the personality cult and the entire legacy of the Assad regime became known as De-Assadization.[10][11][12][13]
Hafez al-Assad's presidency
[edit]Syrian army general Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970, after he launched a coup d'etat, known as the "Corrective Revolution".[14]
Jadid's radical Marxist policies alienated almost all sectors of Syrian society, so his overthrow was greeted with equal relief by almost everyone.[15] Despite serious disagreements, Assad supported most of Jadid's policies, but in contrast, he turned out to be much more pragmatic.[15] The coup led to the final dominance of the security forces over the government and the party.
Economic reforms
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Assad announced Syria's abandonment of the radical political and social policies of his ousted predecessor Salah Jadid (which he disapproved of even before the coup) in favor of a more moderate policy.[16] He called his reformist campaign the "Corrective Movement." Assad lowered prices on basic products (and in subsequent years they were constantly regulated by the state and remained low), abolished confiscation of goods, and encouraged the private sector.[15] Assad's actions resulted in increased incomes for many workers and farmers, and the state provided citizens with better healthcare and education services, which were free. However, Assad's largely failed foreign policy (as well as events that he could not influence) led Syria back to isolation, and later to a deficit and shortages of goods, which led to the introduction of austerity measures in mid-1980s. The push for militarization, as well as huge (and ever-growing) military spending, also put significant pressure on the Syrian economy during the crisis years.
When the communist governments in the Eastern Bloc collapsed, an ideological crisis within the government arose. However, Assad and his supporters hit back, stating that because of the "Corrective Movement under the leadership of the warrior Hafez al-Assad", the principles of economic and political pluralism, which had been introduced "some two decades" beforehand, safeguarded the Syrian government from the possibility of collapse.[17]
Political changes
[edit]At the 11th National Congress, Assad assured party members that his leadership was a radical change from that of Jadid, and he would implement a "corrective movement" to return Syria to the true "nationalist socialist line".[18] At first, Assad took a course toward softening the government's repressive policies. He visited villages and listened to citizens' complaints, eased repression, and rehabilitated some of the victims of Jadid's regime.[15]
However, political liberalization did not last very long - after the brutal suppression of the Islamist uprising in 1982, the Assad regime rolled back to a level of totalitarianism comparable to Jadid's. Assad has stepped up his drive to centralize power in the hands of the president (him) and has severely curtailed the role of the Ba'ath Party, banning open debate and ending the relatively democratic elections of its delegates to the congresses.[19] In essence, Assad has returned to the version of totalitarian and militaristic Leninism that Jadid had previously promoted.[19]
Policy of Assadization
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