Ba'athism

Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalism/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalist</a> <a href="/facts/Ideology/BWooMbq7">ideology</a> which advocates the establishment of a <a href="/facts/Arab_Union/4RqTIEFF">unified Arab state</a> through the rule of a Ba'athist <a href="/facts/Vanguardism/71nR0VpC">vanguard party</a> operating under a <a href="/facts/Revolutionary_socialism/UWmMhWon">revolutionary socialist</a> framework. The ideology is officially based on the theories of the <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syrian</a> intellectuals <a href="/facts/Michel_Aflaq/q5BU7r4H">Michel Aflaq</a> (per the <a href="/facts/Ba%27ath_Party_(Iraqi-dominated_faction)/EX661zeF">Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party</a>), <a href="/facts/Zaki_al-Arsuzi/1jcWhGy8">Zaki al-Arsuzi</a> (per the <a href="/facts/Ba%27ath_Party_(Syrian-dominated_faction)/qk8pksrs">Syrian-led Ba'ath Party</a>), and <a href="/facts/Salah_al-Din_al-Bitar/8EAq2ak0">Salah al-Din al-Bitar</a>. Ba'athist leaders of the modern era include the former <a href="/facts/President_of_Iraq/XQkHEKzw">president of Iraq</a> <a href="/facts/Saddam_Hussein/nHnSodgy">Saddam Hussein</a>, and former <a href="/facts/Presidents_of_Syria/AJWWcGs8">presidents of Syria</a> <a href="/facts/Hafez_al-Assad/aBtGmS4r">Hafez al-Assad</a> and his son <a href="/facts/Bashar_al-Assad/uFjUSQv6">Bashar al-Assad</a>.
The Ba'athist ideology advocates the "<a href="/facts/Nahda/MpzIwU7E">enlightenment</a> of the <a href="/facts/Arabs/E77duPsg">Arabs</a>" as well as the <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">renaissance</a> of <a href="/facts/Arab_culture/fn8Jkj2w">their culture</a>, values and society. It also advocates the creation of <a href="/facts/One-party_state/bTmHoaGu">one-party states</a> and rejects <a href="/facts/Pluralism_(political_philosophy)/hpDWGPqW">political pluralism</a> in an unspecified length of time—the Ba'ath party theoretically uses an unspecified amount of time to develop an "enlightened" Arab society. Ba'athism is founded on the principles of <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalism/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalism</a>, <a href="/facts/Pan-Arabism/7AH9WCrb">pan-Arabism</a>, and <a href="/facts/Arab_socialism/SnCzgwmf">Arab socialism</a>, as exemplified by its slogan "<a href="/facts/Wa%E1%B8%A5da,_%E1%B8%A4urriyya,_Ishtir%C4%81kiyya/CTdsxkb6">Unity, Freedom, Socialism</a>".
Ba'athism advocates <a href="/facts/Socialism/U2kVoPaA">socialist</a> economic policies such as <a href="/facts/State_ownership/Jr4dPDo3">state ownership</a> of natural resources, <a href="/facts/Protectionism/jSa6HEAg">protectionism</a>, <a href="/facts/Distribution_(economics)/cGabV41g">distribution of lands</a> to peasants, and <a href="/facts/Planned_economy/TCMJrC5M">planned economies</a>. Although inspired by <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western</a> socialist thinkers, early Ba'athist theoreticians rejected the <a href="/facts/Marxism/sgnnLfax">Marxist</a> <a href="/facts/Class_conflict/HUQIUXTj">class-struggle</a> concept, arguing that it hampers Arab unity. Ba'athists contend that socialism is the only way to develop modern Arab society and unite it.
The two Ba'athist states which existed—<a href="/facts/Ba%27athist_Iraq/lbHnSQBz">Iraq</a> and <a href="/facts/Ba%27athist_Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>—attempted to prevent criticism of their ideology through <a href="/facts/Authoritarianism/88Kfm2gU">authoritarian</a> means of governance. Ba'athist Syria's state ideology was <a href="/facts/Neo-Ba%27athism/FUdmoruJ">neo-Ba'athism</a>, a <a href="/facts/Far-left_politics/DtJy7YPc">far-left</a> form of Ba'athist ideology developed by the <a href="/facts/Assadism/FUdmoruJ">Assadist</a> leadership of the <a href="/facts/Arab_Socialist_Ba%27ath_Party_%E2%80%93_Syria_Region/Rg4b0lhb">Syrian Ba'ath party</a>, which was quite distinct from the Ba'athism which Aflaq and Bitar wrote about. The <a href="/facts/Arab_Socialist_Ba%27ath_Party_%E2%80%93_Iraq_Region/WAp8Kkum">Iraqi Ba'ath Party</a>, meanwhile, was dominated by <a href="/facts/Saddamism/FUdmoruJ">Saddamism</a>, which had a more <a href="/facts/Right-wing_politics/CVoubHMm">right-wing</a> political orientation, culminating in an <a href="/facts/Assadist%E2%80%93Saddamist_conflict/9Qmfzt9d">inter-Ba'athist conflict</a> between the two Ba'athist states. Both Ba'athist regimes were ousted from power as a result of the <a href="/facts/2003_invasion_of_Iraq/V9zysaV1">U.S.-led invasion of Iraq</a> in 2003 and the <a href="/facts/2024_Syrian_opposition_offensives/LrkKcWt4">renewed rebel offensive in Syria</a> in 2024 amid the <a href="/facts/Syrian_civil_war/UD2gymjC">Syrian civil war</a>.

Ba'athism open-in-new

Ba'athism