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.

Samir Seifan is a fellow at the Orient Centre for International Studies in Damascus and at the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews.