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Vast, inscrutable, unpredictable, Syria has traditionally been the toughest nut to crack in the Middle East peace process. After 9/11 and Damascus' opposition to the War in Iraq, Washington decided it had had enough, and began a quiet campaign against Asad's regime. There were no Western journalists or academics based in Damascus during this period - except for Andrew Tabler. "In the Lion's Den" tells the unique story of the war no-one knew about as seen from the inside. As Tabler negotiates his way through the labyrinth of Syrian politics, where nothing is at it seems, and no-one says what they mean, we learn how the country works, and how the signature events in Washington's attempts to create a 'New Middle East' - sanctions, meetings with opposition groups, support for Israel's 2006 bombing campaign in Lebanon - played out in the corridors of power in Damascus. Part expose, part vivid narrative account of one man's encounter with one of the most baffling political systems in the world, "In the Lion's Den" is an essential introduction to modern Syria and a warning for international policymakers now trying to engage with the state of the hidden depths that lie beneath its sun-scorched surface.