Why Freedom Failed in Syria

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist and author Anand Gopal about his wonderful new book Days of Love and Rage (amzn.eu/d/0961Uj0B), a profoundly moving and intellectually stimulating history of the Syrian revolution told from the perspective of the northern town of Manbij.

Anand and Thomas discuss:

• Anand's first-hand witnessing of 9/11

• How Anand embedded with the Taliban

• Revolution as a crisis of faith and collapse of social reality

• Manbij as a microcosm of the tensions of Syrian modernity

• The failure of Manbij's democratic experiment and the limits of liberalism

• How ISIS exploited both material grievances and liberal norms

• Baathism: egalitarian ethos vs authoritarian reality

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