The first two chapters investigate the devastating implications of macropolitics. They analyze the geography of violence deployed by the regime to crush revolutionary forces. They unpack the concept of macropolitics in the context of the Syrian revolt. They show that macropolitics is often undemocratic, destructive, and counter-revolutionary. It is no coincidence that regional powers, Western elites, as well as international institutions would choose a macropolitical lens to apprehend the Syrian conflict. By doing so, these actors deliberately chose to sideline revolutionary struggles and consequently empower the Syrian regime. These chapters examine the multidimensional strategies utilized by the regime and other hegemonic actors to undermine grassroots resistance. The following chapters propose a micropolitical analysis of the Syrian uprising by focusing on Manbij. Grassroots resistance is by definition local, heterogeneous, and complex. This suggests that only an exploration from be...
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51