LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Syria: Government
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Syria was invited in by the Lebanese government, in 1976, to keep order in the face of a civil war pitting Maronite Christians against Sunnis and Druze. Adding to the chaos, the Israeli invasion in 1982 was aimed at the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had established bases in southern Lebanon. Syria, in alliance with various militias, resisted the Israeli invaders, who were eventually forced to withdraw. Yet the civil war dragged on until peace was brokered by the Arab League, in 1989, and enforced by the Syrian presence (legitimized by the Taif agreement, which brought an end to the internal hostilities). Syria has slowly been withdrawing forces, but the U.S. and Israel have been pressuring the Syrians to get out entirely: Israel claims that Syria is aiding the Hizbollah guerrilla movement, which regularly launches assaults on Israeli territory. Syria denies this.
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Syria has been ruled by a military regime since the Ba'ath Party led a coup in 1963 and imposed a state of emergency. Syrians have no ability to change their government and have little or no influence on government policies. The government continues to use the intelligence services and military to limit any potential opposition to the regime. Political opposition groups, religious activists, and independent human rights groups face severe restrictions on their activities, including the threat of torture and indefinite detention.
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The Ba'ath takeover in Syria followed a Ba'ath coup in Iraq the previous month. The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and Ba'ath–controlled Iraq. An agreement was concluded in Cairo on April 17, 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963. However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize. Thereafter, the Ba'ath regimes in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity. These plans floundered in November 1963, when the Ba'ath regime in Iraq was overthrown.
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In November 1956 Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, providing a foothold for Communist influence within the government in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment being sent to Syria. With this increase in the strength of Syrian military technology worried Turkey, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake Iskenderun, a formerly Syrian city now in Turkey. On the other hand, Syria and the U.S.S.R. accused Turkey of massing its troops at the Syrian border. During this standoff, Communists gained more control over the Syrian government and military. Only heated debates in the United Nations (of which Syria was an original member) lessened the threat of war.
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By the end of the 1960s, Syria's public-sector enterprises were experiencing severe financial difficulties. The government responded by relaxing restrictions on the activities of private business, particularly in construction and trade. Private enterprise quickly moved into agriculture and manufacturing as well, supported both by the return of large amounts of local capital that had fled the country during the late 1950s and by an influx of investment from the oil-producing Arab Gulf states. Government spending jumped from around 29 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1972 to some 37 percent of GDP in 1987. This rise was not matched by an increase in current revenues, resulting in large budget deficits. The shortfalls resulted primarily from sharp increases in military spending; by 1987, support for the armed forces accounted for 39 percent of total state outlays.
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These stateless Kurds have no basis for claiming citizenship anywhere other than Syria, yet the government has denied them the right to a nationality. The government discriminates against Syrian women who are citizens and are married to Kurdish men classified as foreigners when it denies these women the right to pass on their citizenship to their children. The Syrian government is ... in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it has ratified, by denying Syrian-born Kurdish children the right to a nationality in cases where their parents lack Syrian citizenship and are stateless.
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