Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thinking about the international factor in the Syrian crisis / Raymond Hinnebusch -- The Middle East regional security complex and the Syrian civil war / Soren Schmidt -- The international and regional battle for Syria / Christopher Phillips -- The regional sectarian war and Syria / Konstantinos Zarras -- Hizbullah's intervention in Syria : causes and consequences / Adham Saouli -- Palestinian refugees and the Syrian uprising : subjectivities, mobilizations and challenges / Valentina Napolitanio -- Qatar and its rivals in Syria's conflict / Kristian Coates Ulrichsen -- Saudi policies in the Syrian crisis / May Darwich -- Iran and the Syrian civil war / Jubin Goodarzi -- Iraqi-Syrian relations and the Syrian uprising / Raymond Hinnebusch -- Turkish-Iranian relations in Syria : between rivalry and engagement / Ozden Oktav -- The 2011 collapse of Syria-Turkish relations : through a realist- constructivist lens / Marwa Daoudy -- US policy towards the Syrian conflict under Obama : strategic patience and miscalculation / Jasmine Gani -- Russian foreign policy in the early Syrian conflict : traditional factors and the role of Syria in the Kremlin's wider domestic and international goals / Daria Vorobyeva -- From Russia's military deployment in Syria to the Astana process / Nikolay Kozhanov -- The European Union and Syria : from constructive engagement to marginalization and back? / Francesco Cavatorta and Pierre-Michel Turcotte -- Contextualizing economic sanctions on Syria / Ferdinand Arslanian -- The responsibility to protect (R2P) in Syria : a critical analysis of R2P as an interactional process / Nour M. El-Kebbi.

Examining the international dimensions of the Syrian conflict, this book studies external factors relating to the uprising. It explores the involvement of outside powers and the events' impact both on regional and international level. Syria was widely perceived to be essential to the regional power balance, hence it was a valued prize to be fought over. The book examines the impact of global and regional powers in propelling the conflict in Syria; looks at the motives and strategies of the key regional and international actors (Hizbollah, Palestinians; Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, US, Russia, EU) and analyses the impact of the Syrian conflict on key relations between regional states (Turkey-Syria, Turkey-Iran, Iraq-Syria). Finally, several chapters treat the impact on Syria of international sanctions and the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine (R2P). This book is a follow on to volume one, The Syrian Uprising: domestic origins and early trajectory, eds, Raymond Hinnebusch and Omar Imady (2018). Subsequent volumes will examine the later evolution of the conflict. Taking an innovative and interdisciplinary approach that seeks to capture the full complexity of the phenomenon, this book contributes significantly to our understanding of the Syrian conflict and will therefore be a valuable resource for anyone studying Middle Eastern Politics.