Bilal Salaymeh

Hamas was not only besieged in Gaza but also politically isolated and delegitimized. This isolation has paved the way for Hamas’s rule in Gaza to develop more organically, as Brenner’s details in his book. Hamas utilized formal and informal governing mechanisms, blurring the boundaries between its partisan politics and the governing of Gaza, thereby falling into the same trap of Fatah, which embodied the PLO, and later the Palestinian Authority (PA). The logic of power consolidation that Hamas followed in Gaza, and its commitment to govern and provide services to almost two million Palestinians under blockade, force Hamas to become more pragmatic and less spoiling in its regional politics (as in the case of its policy towards Egypt), as well as in its encounters with Israel. Hamas became more careful in maintaining ceasefires, and willing to sell ‘stability’ as political good; Baconi brilliantly unpacks these dynamics.

With Between Two Coups, Salık fills a gap in the literature of Turkish-Syrian relations and offers a detailed account not only for diplomatic historians interested in Turkish foreign policy and Middle East politics but also for political scientists and International Relation scholars interested in foreign policy analysis, and the impact of coups and domestic politics on foreign relations.