Is Assad’s Baath Party Still A Force In Middle East Or Just Fading Relic?

The Baath Party once was a symbol of power and Arab nationalism. It used to be the core force of the political scenario in the Middle East. Recently, it has witnessed a gradual loss of influence. Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria is said to be fading, and so is its dominance over that position.

Experts claim that the Baath Party is turning out to be just a dying breed of authoritarian rule. The fate of the party reflects a broader shift in the region, meaning the end of an era of the party which once dominated over Syria and Iraq.

The recent suspension of the Baath Party’s activities in Syria came after Islamist-led rebels managed to oust Assad’s government. This collapse marks the final chapter in a movement that once wielded significant power in both Syria and Iraq. The party, which had its heyday in the mid-20th century, now finds itself grappling with internal and external challenges that have led to its fading influence in the Middle East.

As the renowned Baath Party expert, author of The Struggle for Power in Syria, Nikolaos van Dam states that there is little chance that the party in Syria would ever regain power. He stated that “with Assad gone, the Baath in Syria… is bound to fully decline. I do not believe they will ever have an opportunity for a comeback.”

Ideology Of Baath Party

The Arab Socialist Baath Party was founded in Damascus in 1947 out of a desire to merge the goals of Arab nationalism and socialism. Early in its formation, the party called for the kind of secular state necessary for unity among the fragmented and largely fractured Arab world to be above sectarianism.

This included giving recognition to religion in their role in forming cultural expression but positioned it more on pan-Arab unification as separate from sectarian expression in religious ways.

However, in both Syria and Iraq, the Baath Party gradually became a vehicle for minority rule. In Iraq, Sunni Muslims held power over the Shiite majority, while in Syria, the Alawite Assad family established dominance over Syria’s Sunni majority. This power imbalance made the Baath Party less about unity and more about consolidating control for those in power.

Sami Moubayed, a Damascus-based historian and writer, criticized the Baath Party’s inability to live up to its founding slogan of “Unity, Freedom, and Socialism.” He remarked, “There was never unity, let alone freedom. Their socialism amounted to disastrous nationalizations.”

As the years went by, the popularity of Arab nationalism, especially in its secular form, declined. Regarding contemporary Syria and Iraq, the focus was no longer on pan-Arab nationalism but on state nationalism. According to Van Dam, “Arab nationalism, particularly secular Arab nationalism, has lost much of its appeal… and thereby also the role of the Baath Party as an Arab nationalist party.”

In Syria, a military junta dominated by Alawite, Druze, and Christian officers seized power in 1963, adopting Marxist-inspired policies that marginalized the original party founders, Michel Aflaq and Saleh Bitar. In Iraq, the Baath Party consolidated its control after a 1968 coup, which eventually led to Saddam Hussein’s authoritarian rule. Both countries, under Baathist leadership, moved toward authoritarianism and repression rather than unity and socialism.

Fall Of Baathist Regimes

The Baathist regimes of both Iraq and Syria proved unable to sustain success for long. The Syrian army lost territory to Israel during the 1967 war and then suffered other setbacks in later conflicts. Saddam Hussein’s disastrous invasion of Kuwait in 1990 saw the regime crumble in Iraq after the coalition intervention led by the US in 2003.

Despite their common ideological origins, the Baath parties in Syria and Iraq were bitter rivals. Syria supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, further highlighting the sectarian divides between the two Baathist regimes. Both governments, however, relied heavily on coercion and state power to suppress dissent.

Van Dam remarked that both the countries shared the identical structure of Baath party but became absolutely subservient to their respective presidents. He observed, “The Baathist rulers of both Iraq and Syria became the party. The parties had their own institutions… but they were fully subservient to their respective presidents.”

While the Baath Party appears to be on the decline itself, Moubayed believes some of its ideals may still not be lost. “There may one day be a revival of Arab nationalism,” he said. “But it is certain that it will not come from the Baath.”

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