A01=Bassma Kodmani
Arab world
Assad
Author_Bassma Kodmani
authoritarianism
Category=GTU
Category=JPSL
conflict
democracy
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
geopolitics
memoir
Middle East politics
Middle East studies
opposition
resistance
Syria
Syrian war
Product details
- ISBN 9780755658213
- Weight: 300g
- Dimensions: 156 x 232mm
- Publication Date: 19 Feb 2026
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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This account by Bassma Kodmani details her passionate fight for democratic change in Syria. It is both her personal testimony and a unique historical document. As a westernised Syrian intellectual who, in 2011, became a figure of the Syrian opposition in exile, her candid narrative sheds fresh light on this conflict with its multiple twists and turns drawn from her direct involvement over a decade. Kodmani participated in and initiated meetings and negotiations with diplomats and politicians from around the world. Her testimony covers the exclusive behind-the-scenes revelations about conversations with local and international officials and follows the mutations of the Syrian conflict. The missed opportunities, broken promises and the changing positions of some of the world’s most important leaders revealed in this book illuminate the regional geopolitics of the Syrian conflict that are still unresolved today. An important source for scholars in Syria studies, Kodmani's personal reflections add a human element to the political analysis.
Bassma Kodmani (1959-2023) was a leading figure of the exiled Syrian opposition who devoted much of her career to the democratisation of the Arab world. A prominent expert in Middle Eastern affairs, she held a doctorate in political science from Sciences Po, France and was the founding executive director of the Paris-based Arab Reform Initiative. In 2011 she co-founded the Syrian National Council, the first coalition of opponents to President Bashar al-Assad's regime. She served as head of foreign relations and spokesperson for the body and was a leading member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, participating in United Nations-hosted meetings in Geneva from 2016.
