Wilson Center Experts
Joseph Sassoon
Public Policy Scholar
International Security Studies
Contact Information:
T (202) 691-4000
// F (202) 691-4001
Expertise:
Security and Defense
Affiliation:
Senior Associate Member, St. Anthony's College, Oxford
Wilson Center Project(s):
"The Ba'th Party: A Study in Tyranny"
Related Content for this Expert
Economic Lessons from Iraq for Countries of the Arab Spring (Spring 2 2012)
Apr 17, 2012Given that Iraqis have experienced relatively democratic elections, Sassoon analyzes the economic lessons of an Arab country emerging from an authoritarian regime and assesses the pitfalls that other Arab countries might encounter with their nascent democracies. more
Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime
January 23, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Author Joseph Sassoon translated and analyzed the documents that form the basis of this revealing book about Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party which came to power in 1968 and remained for 35 years, until the 2003 U.S. invasion. more
Ensuring Compliance: Strategies for Popular Cooptation by the Party and State Security in Communist Europe and in Ba'thist Iraq
January 27, 2011 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
With varying degrees of success, authoritarian regimes frequently co-opt their citizens to gather information on and undermine their domestic opposition. According to Martin Dimitrov, communist Bulgaria's ability to suppress dissent was diminished from the 1970s onward because the Western-led international human rights regime forced the government to replace harsher methods it had previously used with a system of rewards for volunteer informants and reprimands for dissidents. The ineffectiveness of these tactics contributed to the regime's eventual collapse. In contrast, Joseph Sassoon explained that Iraq's Ba'th Party—unable to rely upon a superpower for support and steeled by a series of wars—was able to remain in power for thirty-five years in part because it did not relax its efforts at co-optation and repression as the regime matured. more
Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime
January 23, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Author Joseph Sassoon translated and analyzed the documents that form the basis of this revealing book about Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party which came to power in 1968 and remained for 35 years, until the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Ensuring Compliance: Strategies for Popular Cooptation by the Party and State Security in Communist Europe and in Ba'thist Iraq
January 27, 2011 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
With varying degrees of success, authoritarian regimes frequently co-opt their citizens to gather information on and undermine their domestic opposition. According to Martin Dimitrov, communist Bulgaria's ability to suppress dissent was diminished from the 1970s onward because the Western-led international human rights regime forced the government to replace harsher methods it had previously used with a system of rewards for volunteer informants and reprimands for dissidents. The ineffectiveness of these tactics contributed to the regime's eventual collapse. In contrast, Joseph Sassoon explained that Iraq's Ba'th Party—unable to rely upon a superpower for support and steeled by a series of wars—was able to remain in power for thirty-five years in part because it did not relax its efforts at co-optation and repression as the regime matured.
Economic Lessons from Iraq for Countries of the Arab Spring (Spring 2 2012)
Apr 17, 2012Given that Iraqis have experienced relatively democratic elections, Sassoon analyzes the economic lessons of an Arab country emerging from an authoritarian regime and assesses the pitfalls that other Arab countries might encounter with their nascent democracies.