The Emergence and Consequences of the Syrian Civil War

Essai , 2016 , 8 Pages , Note: A

Politique - Sujet: Paix et Conflits, Sécurité

This essay will deal with the ongoing violent conflict in Syria, generally known as the Syrian Civil War. Being one of the most discussed and impactful conflicts of the last decade or so, the Syrian Civil War is undoubtedly worthy of an analysis from the perspective of the field of International Studies.

The conflict in Syria, which has marked its fifth anniversary in March 2016, has quickly become a global political battleground for two superpowers, Russia and the United States. The involvement of the two world leaders in the conflict has also brought high level of coverage of the conflict, both in scholarly and popular literature.

The global importance of this conflict and the amount of material on the topic have both given more than enough reason for the Syrian Civil War to be selected as the primary focus of the essay. Furthermore, the essay will specifically focus on two main issues: first, it will focus on the emergence of the conflict and the key actors involved in it, and second, the essay will try to describe some of the major (and often devastating)effects the conflict has had on both the country of Syria and its neighboring countries, including the continent of Europe.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Basic facts of the conflict

3. Commentary on the effects of the conflict

4. Conclusion

5. References

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose/Focus of the essay

The following essay will deal with the ongoing violent conflict in Syria, generally known as the Syrian Civil War. Being one of the most discussed and impactful conflicts of the last decade or so, the Syrian Civil War is undoubtedly worthy of an analysis from the perspective of the field of International Studies. The conflict in Syria, which has marked its fifth anniversary in March 2016, has quickly become a global political battleground for two superpowers, Russia and the United States. The involvement of the two world leaders in the conflict has also brought high level of coverage of the conflict, both in scholarly and popular literature. The global importance of this conflict and the amount of material on the topic have both given more than enough reason for the Syrian Civil War to be selected as the primary focus of the essay. Furthermore, the essay will specifically focus on two main issues: first, it will focus on the emergence of the conflict and the key actors involved in it, and second, the essay will try to describe some of the major (and often devastating) effects the conflict has had on both the country of Syria and its neighboring countries, including the continent of Europe.

1.2. Thesis statement/Central argument

As mentioned in the previous section, the essay will deal with causes and consequences of the Syrian Civil War. The primary objective of this essay is to create a comprehensive and reasonably objective profile of a once stable and relatively democratic country that has found itself paralyzed and destabilized in the face of such conflict. Besides giving a coherent and concise historical overview of the conflict´s evolution over the five years of its existence, the essay will try to delve into the problematic issue of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring countries as a result of their home country being torn apart by the civil war. The refugee crisis, as it is generally referred to, has had a considerable social and economic impact on a number of countries, making it a vital issue on which this essay will focus as the primary consequence of the conflict. This essay argues that the Syrian Civil War has resulted not only in the destruction of many lives and property, but also in an unprecedented socio-economic and political crisis on a near-global scale. In order to support its central argument, the essay will draw on factual findings from a number of established and credible news outlets, including The Guardian, New York Times and BBC, while also referencing reports and overviews related to the conflict in Syria published by international non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) or the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR). Additionally, the essay will attempt to explain why the conflict still persists as well as to mention major proposals for resolving the conflict.

1.3. Organization of major sections of the essay

The essay whose individual major sections and focal points have been more or less mentioned in the previous two subsections, will be organized into five main sections (including introduction), one of which will be a non-analytical, bibliographical section. The organization of the essay will thus be following:

1. Introduction; 2. Basic facts of the conflict (causes); 3. Commentary on the effects of the conflict (consequences); 4. Conclusions; 5. References

2. Basic facts of the conflict

2.1. Emergence and evolution

Inspired by the growing protests in North Africa, unrest broke out in the southern city of Daraa in Syria on 19 March 2011. Only four days later, nearly hundred people died in demonstrations in Daraa, Damascus and Baniyas due to a harsh crackdown from the Syrian security forces on the protesters (Al Jazeera 2014a). In April 2011, President of Syria Bashar al-Assad, under the pressure from opposition, lifted the country's 48-year-old state of emergency which, among other things, had allowed for security forces to intervene and torture any suspects with impunity. But days later, Syria experienced intensification of government crackdowns against protesters and over the next month the government deployed tanks and soldiers to fight with "armed criminal gangs". The result of this strategy was the death toll that had reached 1,000 by mid-May (BBC 2014). In reaction to the government crackdowns, a portion of protesters began to organize themselves into rebel brigades with the main goal of fighting against state security forces for the control over individual Syrian regions. This was essentially the moment when Syrian uprising transformed into Syrian civil war. In 2012, the Syria´s capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo also became involved in the civil war.

The rapid deterioration of living conditions in Syria started coming into full effect by 2013. One of the most significant indicators of this deterioration was sarin attack on civilians in the suburbs of Damascus on 21 August 2013. The extent of this attack caused a heavy outcry from many of the Western countries, which began considering a humanitarian intervention. Instead, President of Russia Vladimir Putin proposed to US President Barrack Obama a plan for the destruction of Syria´s chemical weapons and also managed to convince al-Assad to accept this proposal (Gordon 2013). During 2013, there was a total number of 217 terrorist incidents which accounted for more than 1,000 casualties. In February 2014, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reacted to the growing level of violence by accepting a resolution in which it demanded that “all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs, and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering” (UNSC 2014, 3). However, the inability of the UNSC to enforce the implementation of this resolution not only meant continuation of violence throughout 2014, but also worsening of an already tragic state in which Syria found itself. The indiscriminate bombardment of rebel- controlled regions by Syrian air force became the cause of a universal fear, which has contributed to a still growing humanitarian crisis in the country. Since the UNSC resolution passed in February 2014, an estimate of 6,000 civilians died due to barrel bomb attacks. Additionally, Human Rights Watch documented over 650 new major damage sites affected by barrel bombings in the province of Aleppo alone (Human Rights Watch 2014).

Another rise in violence in Syria has been attributed to the growing presence of the Islamic State (IS) and its territorial acquisitions. IS and the mass killings and beheadings of its opponents, many of whom were civilians, have further destabilized not only Syria, but also its neighbor, Iraq, where the terrorist organization first emerged. Over the five years of the conflict´s existence, there have been multiple attempts of reaching a ceasefire, however, most of them failed almost immediately. As of February 2016, USA and Russia managed to negotiate a partial ceasefire in the interest of ending the conflict and starting a political transformation process in Syria. On February 27, the ceasefire went into effect based on the resolution 2254 of UNSC from December 2015. However, it is important to note, that the ceasefire applies only to parties which have agreed to its conditions, i.e. 97 rebel groups and government units (Malsin 2016). It does not include terrorist organization such as Islamic State or Al-Nusra Front. The US and Russia along with the UN have been attempting to solve the conflict by employing negotiating and diplomatic methods. Although the overall situation in Syria has been somewhat tranquilized, the tensions are still prevailing.

2.2. Actors

Syrian government is the primary actor of the civil war, as it officially represents Syria and its citizens. The Syrian government is also considered to be the main instigator of the civil war, as it first started ruthlessly suppressing anyone who protested against the government in 2011, only to step up its brutality and violence even more by conducting the aforementioned chemical attacks in 2012. One of the main effects of the Syrian civil war has been the territorial disintegration that happened in the country, which naturally resulted in the government losing control over certain regions in Syria. Currently, the government controls most of the western Syria, residing in the capital of Damascus and being the only actor of the civil war which has the access to the Mediterranean Sea. One of the main allies of al-Assad´s regime is Russia, which has been supporting the incumbent president since the very beginning of the civil war. Russia fully backs al-Assad and recognizes him as the only formal and official authority in the civil war. Furthermore, since March 2016, Russia has engaged in airstrikes on opposition in alliance with the Syrian military, in order to decrease the diverse opposition´s regional control. Another important ally of Syrian government has been Iran, whose regional Shia elite is believed to be heavily funding al- Assad and his regime, partly due to the fact that Syria is “the main transit point for Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah” (BBC 2015). Some of the most vocal critics of al-Assad´s regime have been the United States, Saudi Arabia, which is one of the major providers of military equipment and financial assistance to several rebel groups, and Turkey, whose President Erdogan has labeled al-Assad as a “dictator who has led to the deaths of up to 350,000 people” (BBC 2015). The main objective of the Syrian government is to regain its territorial integrity, especially the north and northwest part of the country, which has been stunned by the rebel groups and the Islamic State as well to eliminate any rebel opposition and terrorist groups.

The opposition forces, often referred to as the rebels, include a number of groups that are to a varying extent in a disagreement with the Syrian government. One of the major rebel groups is the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is essentially a rebel army composed of a thousand independent units, which are grouped into larger factions often on the basis of ideology and loyalty (Jenkins 2014, 10). The FSA has around 50,000 fighters under its command, which corresponds to half of the total rebel strength (Jenkins 2014, 10). Another influential rebel organization, which works similarly to the FSA as an umbrella group of fighting organizations, is the Islamic Front, comprising organizations such as the Army of Islam or Ahrar al-Sham (Jenkins 2014, 11). Besides attempting to overthrow al-Assad´s regime, the rebel groups lack a clear goal, mainly due to their disorganization and ideological divergence which often prevents them from reaching consensus. Lastly, it is the Islamic State that has emerged as an “incarnation” of Al-Qaeda in Iraq after the American invasion. The group started to gain more prominence and power after the US withdrawal from Iraq and eventually expanded to Syria, where it took over most of the eastern part of the country, sections of which it shares with its rival terrorist organization, Al-Nusra Front. The goal of both terrorist groups seems to be less of a political, anti-establishment nature and more of a struggle for establishing territorial control over eastern Syria (Jenkins 2014, 12).

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• Note: A
• Année de publication: 2016
• Pages: 8
• N° de catalogue: V378568
• ISBN (ebook): 9783668555983
• ISBN (Livre): 9783668555990
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: syrian, civil