The architecture of coup-proofing security apparatuses: The legacy of Hafiz al-Assad in Syria

Authoritarian regimes employ security apparatuses as a coup-proofing strategy, as in the case of Syria. The Syrian security apparatus's structure, relations with other institutions, and external hostile activities have been modified to serve this policy. By holding the decision-making process only by his hands, Hafiz al-Assad made security branches and agencies an isolated islands connected directly and exclusively to him. That gave him a high ability to apply a successful coup-proofing policy. From a security studies perspective, Syrian Al-Mukhabarat is distinctive and different from the western security-intelligence classification. Hafiz al-Assad did not build a professional security sector, but patrimonial non-efficient, separated security-intelligence executive agencies, supervised directly. Al-Assad also employed security apparatuses to intervene and conspire against neighboring states.