I have no idea what’s next. I guess that I will be trying to take the diss and make it a book. But I don’t have any ideas about publishers or things like that at this stage.

Josh, you rock. It’s a been a long, tough road, but you made it. congrats.

Uhm. Raza, I think you should go and visit Syria. Or … if you are in Syria, then perhaps you should visit some other country.

Raza, if you really are planning to be a scholar, something that will help you be a good one is learning not to pass judgment about things you have yet to examine. I am referring both to your comments about Josh’s thesis, as well as to your description of your own thesis proposal. A question like “Can communism be of relevance to social movements in the Muslim world?” - i.e. devoid of pre-conclusions - would be a better launch-point for your research, from an academic point of view at least.

In any case good luck.

Congratulations, man. I cannot wait to read your dissertation. When will it be published?

Let me know when you’re passing by DC next.

Ahmed

Well, Raza, comparison aims at stressing the similarities and the differences between two objects, and explaining them, right? So of course there are differences. And similarities. A big one is the authoritarian nature of both regimes, with a dominant coalition holding power. They are both faced with the challenge of adaptation to changing circumstances and of rethinking the ways to keep the power and handle opposition (transforming coalitions, partial liberalisation, institutional changes, cooptation techniques, etc..). The link with public policies - which is something different - is always complex. The Syrian and Egyptian foreign policies are indeed radically different, but that’s part of the picture. Having read your thesis subject, I have the feeling that you have a more normative perspective, that you’re trying to say what is desirable or not based on certain criteria. That’s legitimate, but it implies a totally different focus and also different scientific methods.

Back to the title of the dissertation…..Again, going by the title, I was right in my hunches from my post above…..the nature of the 2 regimes is entirely different.It is that corpulent arsehole Mubarak who has betrayed Nasser and all the progressive achievements of the Egyptian Revolution…Bashar is pretty much faithful to the egalitarian ideals of the Baath Party, and some notches less repressive than his father Hafez.

I guess this is the sort of topic which would get you a lot of funding from places like the NED, USAID, IRI, NDI, etc….especially post-doc opportunities…and certainly not the topic I am looking at for my PhD proposal, which is on the communist movements in the Arab/Muslim world and how can communism be relevant for social movements in the Muslim world in the 21st century.

All the best to Dr Stacher.

I am quite happy with SP’s explanation and she is right. I am tired of thinking about it for the moment.

It should be available at the University of St. Andrews’ library next week.

And as for the final title, it was _Adapting Authoritarianism: Institutions and Co-optation in Egypt and Syria_

Raza, Josh touches on the question of the international position and policy of the two states in his dissertation, which I’d encourage you to read. At this point, after a gruelling defence of something he’s probably thoroughly sick of, I’d understand if he really didn’t want to have to talk about or explain it any more.

Wallow in the glory, Gosh.