This article seeks to question the epistemological monopoly of territory and scale in analyses of the Syrian conflict. It does so to both challenge static conceptualisations of space in the study of politics and analyse how seemingly remote actors influence wartime outcomes. Since 2011, NGOs, government bodies, and merchants have worked to connect Damascus to Tehran, Idlib to Istanbul, London to Dara‘a. These connections have proven crucial to the reliable supply of food, funds, and firepower. Yet rather than reveal the importance of foreign patrons or proxies on the ground, such dynamics speak to a world in which relationships matter more than distance, practices more than geopolitical position ora prioriforms of alliance. Drawing on the work of John Allen, I suggest why thinking topologically about these dynamics better equips us to understand the political outcomes they help engender. To demonstrate the promise of this approach, I hone in on the partnerships, intermediaries, and connections that shape performances of political authority in Syria by examining one object crucial to its enactment: bread.

中文翻译：

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叙利亚冲突中的拓扑扭曲：通过面包重新思考空间

本文试图质疑在叙利亚冲突分析中对领土和规模的认识论垄断。它这样做既挑战政治研究中空间的静态概念化，又分析看似遥远的行为者如何影响战时结果。自 2011 年以来，非政府组织、政府机构和商人一直致力于将大马士革与德黑兰、伊德利卜与伊斯坦布尔、伦敦与德拉连接起来。事实证明，这些联系对于粮食、资金和火力的可靠供应至关重要。然而，这种动态并没有揭示外国赞助人或代理人在当地的重要性，而是说明了一个关系比距离更重要，实践比地缘政治地位或地缘政治地位更重要的世界。先验联盟的形式。借鉴约翰艾伦的工作，我提出为什么以拓扑方式思考这些动态能够更好地让我们理解它们帮助产生的政治结果。为了证明这种方法的前景，我通过研究一个对其制定至关重要的对象：面包，深入研究了塑造叙利亚政治权威表现的伙伴关系、中介和联系。