Syria three years on: what
for the future of tourism?“I don’t think you could find such a depth of history and culture anywhere else in the Middle East.
The socialist leanings of Syria's dictatorship meant that they had kept out a lot of the trappings of modernisation in terms of fast food restaurants and lots of other associated things, so it was in a bit of a time warp – no McDonald’s, no Starbucks.”
I don't bother with McDonald's or Starbucks either (Burger King used to have a very good beanburger), but I wouldn't describe this exclusion as socialist, more a way of protecting the régime's own capital accumulation without having US business take a large slice. Blander forms of capitalism aren't socialism.
This is interesting though, showing how the ruling class can ride out the war on Syria's poor, but that the processes of capitalism can't stay on a war footing indefinitely. My hope is that when the next major defeat for the régime happens, those saying there is no point in continuing with a government that cannot govern the country will help put it out of its victims misery.
“The owner of the company we used to work with said, ‘I was fed up. It was much better for me to go back to my own country that I love, even though it’s got great problems.’ And of course there’s no work, but he was at the top of the tree, so they probably have good savings that they can use to live off. I think he spends his days now going horse riding.”