According to Max Weber in Essays in Sociology, a state can be defined as a “human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Using this statement and the provided articles, one would conclude that Syria cannot be considered a state. Although they do use physical force, it cannot be considered a legitimate use of physical force within their given territory. The Syrian civil war is one of the controversies that arise in the question of whether they are a state or not according to Weber's theory.
In accordance with Weber's theory, Syria cannot be considered as a state because they do not hold a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. In Syria, there are multiple groups fighting against the Ba'ath government, and using physical force to overthrow the government. In this sense, there is no clear monopoly on the use of physical force within the territory. Both groups are fighting for the monopoly and the power. The threat of violence exists on both sides, and so the monopoly is nonexistent, because the other side also has the capability to enact the threat of physical violence. In the conflict, the Brotherhood is fighting against the existing Ba'ath government who if there was no uprising would have the monopoly and could make Syria be considered a state according to Weber. However, as soon as the rebellion began to take root and turn violent, according to Weber's definition, Syria stopped being a state as soon as that occurred because they lost the monopoly on legitimate physical force.
I do not agree with Weber's assessment of the defined “state.” I do not agree with it because a state does not have to only rely on the legitimate use of physical forc...
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...force. They still hold a national identity and have well defined borders. They also have a functioning market, which is a pinnacle for statehood. Syria exists within its boundaries, and is unchallenged as being existent among other states. Just because there is no monopoly on violence, does not mean that their state is defunct and they cannot be considered a state.
Weber's definition is too narrow, and so it should not be considered as an accurate assessment of the statehood of a region. It doesn't include an other important criteria for statehood, and relies on the ability of a region to exercise violence. If we were to adhere to this theory, states would be popping up and disappearing very often, and maps would change just as often. A state should be defined as a region with defined borders with a working market economy, authority, and a strong national identity
Political violence is action taken to achieve political goals that may include armed revolution, civil strife, terrorism, war or other such activities that could result in injury, loss of property or loss of life. Political violence often occurs as a result of groups or individuals believing that the current political systems or anti-democratic leadership, often being dictatorial in nature, will not respond to their political ambitions or demands, nor accept their political objectives or recognize their grievances. Formally organized groups, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), businesses and collectives of individual citizens are non-state actors, that being that they are not locally, nationally or internationally recognized legitimate civilian or military authorities. The Cotonou Agreement of 2000 defines non-state actors as being those parties belonging to the private sector, economic and social partners and civil society in all its forms according to national characteristics. Historical observation shows that nation states with political institutions that are not capable of, or that are resistant to recognizing and addressing societies issues and grievances are more likely to see political violence manifest as a result of disparity amongst the population. This essay will examine why non-state political violence occurs including root and trigger causes by looking at the motivations that inspire groups and individuals to resort to non-conforming behaviors that manifest as occurrences of non-state political violence. Using terrorism and Islamic militancy on the one side, and human rights and basic freedoms on the other as examples, it will look at these two primary kinds of political violence that are most prevalent in the world ...
Revolutionary state formation entails the process of intense and violent struggle between an indigenous population and a colonial power, or between factions or sub-state entities leading to the establishment of one or more states (Maoz). The duration of the struggle and violence is typically short in duration and a result of the pressures felt from both domestic and international pressures. At the beginning of the formation of a new state of regime, acceptance is not guaranteed into the club of nations. The relevance of this fact is that the newly established regime needs to have solid grounds for validation and self-autonomy, without it is left unstable and liable to be brought down by old neighboring states. During the period of instability following the formation of a new regime, there is the additional internal threat which means that those who were in power before will be looking for the first opportunity to return to the status qou (Maoz). An additional aspect of the revolutionary state fo...
Sectarian conflict has been part of the Middle East since the passing of Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. The Syrian Civil War has opened up the sectarian conflict within Syria. The growing sectarian conflict in Syria is causing even more problems to the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Sunni’s anger towards the Alawites is intense and powerful because of the Alawites being responsible for the number of carnages against them. In 1982 a Sunni revolt led by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, confronted Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafiz al-Assad. Hafiz al-Assad responded with terminating entire neighborhoods, historic landmarks, and non-violent citizens. This did not just subdue the revolt, but led to generational revenge. The Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shia Islam, are headed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Alawite Assad family has controlled Syria for almost 50 years thanks to the loose minority alliance with Christians, Druze, and other various smaller ethnic groups. Syria’s population consists of Sunni Arab’s (around 60 percent); Alawites (about 10-12 percent); Christians (about 10-12 percent); Kurds (around 9 percent); Druze (around 6 percent); and other ethnic minorities. For the most part, the Sunni’s consist of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian National Council. Captain Ayham al-Kurdi of the Free Syrian Army stated, “Ninety percent of Alawites are with the regime.” Captai...
Conflicts exist because two states or countries feel threatened by another state. Before providing an explanation of the different views, lets grasp a better understanding of the word "state". Often states are interchanged with the word nation. Nation can have two meanings, that as a community with its own territory and government, and those people who share common characteristics, such as a common language, a common custom, and a common tradition. "It was believed that each nation should have its own state, each state should comprise one and only one nation." (Ziegler, 107) But many states today do not resemble the ideal nation-state, for they contain many nationalities. But still this does not define the word "state".
...ers. It also defined what power a state has over a legitimate federal institution. For example, a state may not use its power to impede the operation of a federal institution by taxing its activities, but still has the authority to collect property tax from a federal institution.
There are two groups in Syria that always fight against each other, and they are the Shi’a against the Sunni, also a fact that Bashar Al-Assad is from Shi`a, so all the Shi`a support him, and a certain Sunni group stand for the Sunni people in Syria. Another thing that there are an external parties outside Syria that influenced a lot to this war such as (china, Russia, US, UK, and other countries), and Russia announced its offer for commerce with the mounting chemical weapons crisis on 9 September, as the US Congress was fixing to vote on wh...
The Syrian civil war is a battle between the Syrian government and those who are seeking to dethrone it. The civil war began as a civil uprising from government corruption and human rights abuse, but quickly evolved from minor protest into an armed rebellion. The uprising began around the 15 of March 2011 and is still currently being disputed. The actual data of casualties are a bit murky because of the many estimations given by multiple groups. The United Nations estimated on 24 July 2013 that there’s over 100,000 casualties. Further estimations were given by activist groups, indicating that the death toll of this civil war is between 102,573 to 150,344. While the SOHR (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) estimates that there’s 206,065 casualties overall. One incident that made the Syrian civil a hotbed debate over immediate military action was a tragic chemical attack on Ghouta, Syria. The chemical attack took place on 21 Au...
An attack on the Syrian state would fall within the boundaries of the international concept of the responsibility to protect. The crisis in Syria has escalated by protests in March 2011 calling for the release of all political prisoners. National security forces responded to widespread peaceful demonstrations with the use of brutal violence. The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refused to stop attacks and allow for implementation of the reforms requested by the demonstrators. By July 2011, firsthand accounts emerged from witnesses, victims, and the media that government forces had subjected innocent civilians to detention, torture, and the use of heavy weaponry. The Syrian people were also subjected to the Shabiha, a largely armed state sponsored militia fighting with security forces. Al-Assad continually denied responsibility to these crimes and placed blame on the armed groups and terrorists for these actions.
To be a spectator of any sporting event one must understand the rules that the players and officials use to govern the game. Without this knowledge it can become an immense challenge to understand if things are going well or poorly for your team or player. An excellent example would be if watching a golf tournament and you have no idea that the low score wins. The worst player in the tournament might end up looking like the winner, and that could not be any further from the truth. Understanding world politics can be very much like watching a sporting event you have no idea of what the rules are. The United Nations (U.N.) has rules that its member states should follow, but they are in many cases treated more like a guideline, such as the American invasion of Iraq. So how can the global citizenry understand why some global leaders choose one course of action over another, especially if there are no set rules with guaranteed results for each action, like a touchdown results in six points? For the global citizenry, the best way to understand global politics is to look to the theories that the global leadership subscribe to. And the only way to determine which theory they subscribe to short of asking each leader directly is to analyze their actions. The realist philosophy will be the theory that best explains the actions of global leaders and therefore will become the rule book to look to when understanding global politics.
As the Arab Spring enters its second year, major uprisings and revolts have occurred all over the Middle East, pushing for an end to the corrupt autocratic rule and an expansion of civil liberties and political rights. Most recently, images from Syria have emerged, depicting the government’s use of force to suppress the voice of its people. One might ask, “Is this the beginning of a revolution? Is the country on the path to democracy?” To assess this question and examine the future trends in the region, one must look back on the country’s somewhat tumultuous history, the relationship between the citizens and the state, and the political economy.
It is vital to grasp the historical, present and future attempts at attaining autonomy, the challenges in the quest for autonomy, the reaction from other nation-states, and if there is any global support towards attainment of independence. In any walk, there are bound to be enemies. The enemies of the Kurds are those nations and elements that have been causing stagnation in their quest for autonomy. An exploration of the various ways this has been happening shall be fundamental. Also, there are ways in which they have had self-inflicted stagnation. Such ways need elucidation. The above will guide on the future of the Kurds.
The essay “States” is a great piece of literature that tries to convey a message important to society. Although, at first, it seemed as if analyzing this piece would be an easy job it was not easy at all. One has to read within and against the grain to understand Said. That is why I would like to thank Prof. Griffin, and my classmates Mariia and Fan for giving me their different insights on Said.
...t state autonomy cannot be restricted by anything but the community (state) itself. As one might assume, it follows from these differing standpoints that the way each theory view intervention, etc., will be in opposition. (Steve Smith, The Globalisation of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations p. 173A)
The reason that the states seek survival is because if the states are not exist, they can’t seek any other interests. Waltz introduces that bipolar systems provide a be...
Oppenheimer, Franz. The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1922. Print.