Syrian Intervention in Lebanon
The 1975-76 Civil War

Like most political scientists writing history, Weinberger is content with secondary sources; thus, the bulk of her books is little more than a rehash of other studies. This is a pity, for the author has researched the topic in some depth and could have made a significant contribution. Her two major conclusions: Over the year and a half between April 1975 and October 1976, the Syrian government of Hafiz al-Asad did not want either side in the Lebanese civil war to prevail and made ever greater efforts to prevent any resolution. Second, Asad made — in the author's delicate phrasing — "an increasingly pronounced bid for Syrian supremacy as an orchestrator of Lebanon's political future"; in plain English, Syria's appetite came with the eating.