"This is a truly important and exciting book! Syria may be the '1930's Spain' of our time, and Hetou pulls back the curtain to show us how Russia and Iran are systematically using this war to replace American power east of Suez." -- Norman Samuels, University Professor and Provost Emeritus, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, USA "The Syrian conflict, one of the most intractable and dangerous facing the world today, cries out for a deeper and more nuanced understanding. Dr Ghaidaa Hetou's study offers precisely the type of analysis which not only clarifies the conflict's complexities and multiple dimensions, but provides international policy-makers with the conceptual tools they need to bring the conflict to an end." -- Eric Davis, Professor, Vice-Chair for Masters Studies, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University, USA "A timely analysis of Syria and their relationships with Iran and Russia/USSR over the last few decades and in the near future. US policymakers and our allies must read this as they determine the art of the possible in the region as ISIS recedes and the civil war simmers." -- Jason Criss Howk, Retired Army FAO and Middle East studies lecturer.