Source: Middle East Eye
By Kamal Alam
The term Pax Syriana was coined as a reference for Syrian control over Lebanon as a counterweight to Israel, amid a battle for influence between Syria and Israel in the Levant.
At various times since the French mandate, Damascus has sought to exercise control over Lebanon in some way – none more so than in the period between 1975 and 2005, when Pax Syriana was at its peak.
The primary driver was the conflict between Syria and Israel. The Golan Heights dominated Syrian thinking after the 1967 war, and ever since, Syria and Israel have been locked in a struggle over who controls southern Lebanon and southern Syria.
Of course, as the war in Syria started in 2011, the country battled for its survival and lost parts of its own southern territory. Now, as the government – firmly backed by the Russians – has reasserted control, Damascus is poised to re-enter the south, where a potential deal between Tel Aviv and Moscow would allow the Syrian army to retake rebel territory.
Read more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/syria-s-game-chess-israeli-border-538300369