Noted Syrian political and economic analyst Samir Seifan provides an overview and assessment of the first five years of President Bashar al-Assad's program for economic reform. Seifan also examines the forces for - and obstacles to - reform in Syria and outlines in detail how the regime's goal of transition to a 'social market economy' might best be achieved. The book includes a summary of papers from the proceedings of the Conference on Economic Reform held in Damascus in November 2008. An overview and assessment of the first five years of Syria's new program for economic reform.