The most important question today, after the fall of Assad, is no longer “How did the tyrant fall?” but rather “How did this regime last for more than five decades?” and “What structure produced and entrenched this despotism?”
It can be said that answering these two questions is a national imperative to ensure that the new Syria does not reproduce its painful past.
This is where the book “Pre-Revolution Syria” by veteran Syrian journalist and media figure Mohammed Mansour, published by Riyad El-Rayyes Books and Publishing in 2018, comes in. It offers us a meticulous dissection of the political, social, and cultural body that produced a closed security apparatus, a repressed society, and a revolution that many considered “impossible,” but which nevertheless erupted.
Book Information:
- Title: Pre-Revolution Syria (Pre-Revolution Syria: Battles of Journalism, Politics, Art, and Intelligence)
- Author: Mohammed Mansour, Syrian media figure, journalist, and critic, born in 1970. He holds a degree in criticism and dramatic literature from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus (1992). He worked in cultural and artistic journalism since 1990, and for decades as a program producer and editor at Syrian television, which afforded him an exceptional view of the inner workings of official media and its relationship with the regime.
- Publisher: Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.
- Publication Date: 2018 (First Edition).
- Number of Pages: 354 pages.
- Type: An analytical and documentary book that combines historical narrative with socio-political analysis, drawing on the author’s field experience within the official media establishment and meticulous documentation of the events preceding the revolution.
The Narrative and Analytical Approach of the Book:
In his book, Mansour presents a structural reading of Syrian reality before 2011, moving away from conspiratorial or superficial interpretations that reduce everything to external conspiracies or sectarian conflicts.
He views pre-revolution Syria as an “organic entity” with its own unique anatomy, composed of overlapping layers: political, economic, social, cultural, and security.
The Structure of the Political System – The Security State as an Alternative to the State of Institutions:
Mansour dedicates early chapters to analyzing the nature of the Syrian political system, describing it as a “closed, highly centralized system” in which constitutional institutions (the People’s Assembly, the government, and the judiciary) were emptied of their actual content and transformed into mere facades of legitimacy.
Conversely, the security apparatus expanded to become the de facto state, controlling every detail of public and private life.
Mansour explains how the “leader” was not simply a president, but a spiritual father and absolute master who inherited power as his private property and surrounded himself with a network of familial and sectarian loyalties.
Political Economy:
The book then moves on to analyze the economic transformations of the decade preceding the revolution, specifically the policies of “economic liberalization,” or what was known as the “social market economy.” Here, Mansour reveals the stark contradiction:
A massive economic liberalization allowed businessmen close to the regime (often relatives or friends of security figures) to seize vast sectors of the economy, while society remained politically closed.
The result was a deepening of class disparities and the creation of a new oligarchy that monopolized wealth, in contrast to the vast masses of the poor and marginalized, and educated youth unable to find jobs that matched their aspirations.
Society Under the Microscope – Exclusion and a Closing Horizon:
The book meticulously examines the social transformations that preceded the revolution.
It discusses the “feeling of exclusion” that affected broad segments of society, particularly in marginalized areas.
It analyzes the phenomenon of youth unemployment, the decline in the quality of public education, the deterioration of healthcare services, and the erosion of the middle class.
All these factors created a fertile ground for silent anger, which had been accumulating beneath a surface of forced calm.
It points out that this anger was not initially sectarian in nature, but rather a civic anger against corruption, injustice, and oppression.
The Security Factor:
The security apparatus occupies a significant portion of Mansour’s analysis. He doesn’t see it as merely an instrument of repression, but rather as a parallel fabric to society, with its own interests, culture, and even economy.
He explains how security forces didn’t just monitor dissidents, but intervened in everything, from appointing university professors to selecting union members, granting building permits, and even grading exams.
This suffocating security grip made any independent political or civic expression impossible, turning society into a closed pressure cooker.
Elites and the Media – Between Coercion and Complicity:
Drawing on his media expertise, Mansour offers a valuable chapter on the role of cultural and media elites.
He describes how official media was transformed into a “state of female broadcasters,” as the subtitle suggests, where the screen became a space for empty entertainment and sycophantic praise of the leader, while any critical voice was silenced. It also discusses forms of complicity, and sometimes timid resistance, within cultural and artistic circles. It reveals how many intellectuals either embraced a “culture of sycophancy,” chose silence, or emigrated early, leaving the field open to the monolithic discourse of the regime.
The book’s essence lies in a fundamental idea put forth by Mansour: that the defunct Syrian regime was a “bombing” system for society at all levels. Tyranny was not confined to prisons, but extended to education, the economy, the media, and social relations.
Hence, the book’s significance lies in its meticulous documentation and dating of each event, indicating its publication time and place. Most importantly, it possesses a profound understanding of the inner workings of Syrian television, granting the journalist’s sharp and insightful pen a revealing perspective. Muhammad Mansour worked under several Ministers of Information and television directors, and within Syrian television, as a producer and editor, witnessed the “fall of the state of female broadcasters.”
The Importance of the Book in Our Current Context:
Some may believe that reading about the “pre-revolution” era is a thing of the past after the fall of the regime. However, the truth is that this book is more essential today than ever before, for the following reasons:
- Understanding the Roots: A new future cannot be built without a deep understanding of the ills of the past. Here, the book reveals the chronic diseases that afflicted the Syrian body politic and
- These ills are manifested in: structural corruption, security dominance, the destruction of institutions, and the marginalization of the citizen. These problems will not disappear simply with the departure of the tyrant.
A warning against reproduction: The most dangerous thing that can happen during a transition is the reproduction of the same old structure under a new guise. Reading this book alerts us to the fact that tyranny is not just about individuals, but rather an integrated system of relationships and interests. True change means dismantling this structure, not just changing faces. - Restoring memory: For decades, the propaganda of the former regime sought to erase the collective memory of Syrians and present a false narrative of the country’s history. Mansour’s book contributes to restoring memory and documenting the truth as experienced by those who were inside the regime’s media apparatus.
- Lessons for new media: Official media was one of the pillars of tyranny. Today, as we build a free national media, we need to understand how the media was transformed into a tool of falsification and disinformation so that we can build a media based on professionalism, credibility, and responsibility.
Summary:
Mohammad Mansour’s book, “Pre-Revolution Syria,” is a crucial document in the library of the Syrian revolution. Beyond its historical narrative, it offers a profound structural analysis of the malady of Syrian despotism.
Therefore, readers today will revisit the pre-revolution era, but they will also draw lessons for the future:
How to avoid repeating the past, and how to build a state based on citizenship and institutions, rather than one built on security and cronyism.
This book is for every Syrian who wants to understand our origins, so that we may know where we must go.
