In Civil Society in Syria and Iran, editors Paul Aarts and Francesco Cavatorta assemble a collection of essays on activism in authoritarian contexts. The editors use research from the accounts of prominent activists in Syria and Iran to expose the successful aspects of civil activism in authoritarian regimes. Aart and Cavatorta choose Syria and Iran because of the similar structure of their authoritarian regimes and the recent power struggles within these regimes. Since the 1970s there have been political changes within the regimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Baʿathist Syria. The activists examined by Aarts and Cavatorta argue that the business associations, entrepreneurs, and Internet social movements are the overlooked, nontraditional players that are the driving force behind the liberalization and democratization of authoritarian regimes. Furthermore, the editors point out that the presence of supposed mainstream humanitarian and pro-democracy organizations have had little to no correlation with the democratization of authoritarian regimes. The authors emphasize that among the economic and political elites, privatization of businesses, global capital, and capital accumulations have been major elements in pushing back the forces of authoritarian regimes. They examine the negative effect Western pressure has on Syria and Iran, which is causing the authoritarian regimes to implement more restrictions in the public, political, and economic spheres, which causes the suppression of civil activism. The authors center their argument around how nontraditional players combat authoritarian regimes and have led to democratization within Syria and Iran.