After four hundred years of indecisive Ottoman rule, and three decades fighting the mandate of the French, the many diverse peoples of Syria finally could call Syria their own. Yet, independence was not synonymous with peace. Without a common enemy, the Syrian people remembered their differences and began to squabble amongst themselves. Even now, seven decades after the formation of the Syrian Arab Republic, peace is yet but a far-flung dream. In June of 2000, then-President Hafez al-Assad, of the previous Ba’ath Party, passed away and his title was left, through an unfortunate accident, in the hands of his second, less determined son, Bashar al-Assad. With his death came strife. Powerful clashing forces previously kept quashed by Ba’ath Party Rule began to emerge yet again, and Syria was plunged into conflict. The Syrian civil war crisis, commonly taken to have begun with the rule of Bashar al-Assad, had roots put down much further back, in the previous Ba’ath Party Ruling, fed by external pressures, both from nature and foreign powers, roots of dissent that only came to blossom during the rule of a weak president who was never intended, nor was powerful enough, to lead.
The Ba’ath Party, the name Arabic for “Renaissance” or “Resurrection” (Polk), was founded in 1947 by Michel Aflaq, a Syrian teacher whose views on nationalism gained him support from Arabs across the area. (“Profile”) Quickly merging with other parties, the now-Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party became real competition to its opposition as its popularity surged among students of the nation. Yet, even as Ba’athism became the ruling Party, power seized by the military sectors of the Party, there were still conflicts. The Military Committee, incidentally led by a young H...
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...nsions that had been brewing steadily under a thin veneer of totalitarian control. The civil war exploded. Many of the “retired” members of Hafez’s guard defected, and Bashar prepared for battle.
The common misconception is that it was Bashar al-Assad’s fault for the rebellion. That he was somehow entirely responsible for the state of affairs in his country. The country forced upon him by a dying father. Bashar never wanted to lead. That was Bassel’s job. Yet, with Bassel dead, Bashar had no choice. And, when he started cracking-down on protests, everything went downhill. There is no singular reason for the civil war in Syria. It’s a culmination of reasons stretching back past the al-Assad’s, past the Ba’ath Party, even. Syria has been hotly contested and conflicted for centuries. It will take more than a couple half-hearted reforms and a weak leader to change that.
The war in Syria has been going on for six years now, killing more than a quarter million people and forcing over 10 million people to leave their homes. It has started with a peaceful protest and is now a full on genocide of people dying. The protest was for the arrest and torturing of Syrian teens for the graffiti of their anti government on a wall. When people form other people that were tired of the government saw this, they wanted their president to make major reforms of their democracy. He didn't like that, so he responded with a violent reaction. He killed thousands of Syrians and more from starvation. As the war went on, more people came in to play a role in the war. These people were from many different places. It has gotten so bad that politicians don't know what to do to stop it.
Livingston, John W., and Al-Jabarti. "The Rise of Shaykh al-Balad 'Ali Bey al-Kabir: A Study in
Laura Deeb’s An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon seeks to rectify post-9/11 notions of political Islam as anti-modern and incongruous with Western formulations of secular modernity. Specifically, Deeb is writing in opposition to a Weberian characterization of modern secular Western societies as the development of bureaucracies through social rationalization and disenchantment. Within this Weberian framework Deeb asserts that Shia communities are in-part modern because of the development of beuorocratic institutions to govern and regulate religious practice. However, Deeb makes a stronger argument oriented towards dislodging the assumptions "that Islamism is static and monolithic, and that
Sunni’s comprise the modern Ba’ath party in Iraq, which came to power in the 1960’s after Arabs losing the six day war to Israel. The Ba’ath Party is a highly centralized, authoritarian, socialist reform party with strong communist ties opposing imperialism and colonialism. During Saddam’s rule, Ba’athists received preferential treatment. Fallujah, with cities like Tikrit (Saddam’s home town), formed the power base for the Ba’ath party.
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...
Hassan, Nafaa. "ARAB NATIONALISM: A RESPONSE TO AJAMI'S THESIS ON THE "END OF PAN-ARABISM." Journal of Arab Affairs 2.2 (1983): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
The initiation of the Syrian War was heavily influenced by the (what was supposed to be a peaceful) protest. As well as the many deaths of the Syrian citizens. These conflicts helped citizens realize all the issues that were going on at the time. There were many causes for the violence that went on during the Syrian Civil War. It can be inferred that the three main aspects that fueled the violence of the Syrian War were due to foreign influence, sectarian opposition, and conflicts between opposing groups.
The authoritarian regimes of the Middles cycled through a pattern of anti-western policy until the globalization effects of economics and information demanded reform. As conservative Arab states try to maintain the autocracy they relied on after gaining independence, their citizens, affected by information and education expansion, challenge their resistant governments as typified by Syria’s unwillingness to capitulate. The proliferation of information and education underscored the protest movements of the Arab Spring because citizens’ contempt for their obstinate governments grew to large under economic pressures, as the current situation in Syria demonstrates.
BACKGROUND: In March of 2011, the unrest in Syria was just beginning, with protests g...
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.
Based on the constructivist view, the Civil War in Syria is initiated by the identity conflict between two groups which are the Assad’s regime and the rebel. Assad’s regime originates from minority Alawite, who made up 12 percent of the Syria population and also dominates most of the position in Syria government (citation). However, this identity conflict is not on religion based as the rebel’s side consists variation of group such as Sunni sect, Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other citizens. Besides, the Assad’s regimes as well consist of other society despite of the Alwite. Based on this condition, it is clearly portray that, even though a group is made up of multiple identities, they still can pursue t...
The Syrian Civil War is a good example of world leaders playing by the rules of realism. The civil war began in March of 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, and by July of 2012 17,000 have died and another 170,000 fled the country (Almond). The United Nations Security Council in February of 2012 had tried t...
The first twenty-five years of Syrian independence was filled with extreme political instability and p...
...most distressed by outcome of a war, could exercise only inadequate control on the issue of armed action against Iraq. Most of the regional actors discarded the U.S. policy towards Iraq with varying intensity as they feared insecurity after Iraq’s disintegration (Reuters, 2003) whereas; Jordan decided not to endanger its rewarding ties with Washington. Another key actor at this level is the Baathi party in Iraq which was based on tribal division, domestic oppression and economic enticement. Under Baathi regime military, bureaucracy and security services was divided into several competing institutions which reinforced Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq. In the post war Iraq, the USA in collaboration with the Iraq National Congress and the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution started to make Iraq a democracy that is similar to the American political culture and values.
This war-torn land shows nothing but death and the dying. The ground is muddy from the rain, it’s dank and sodden. Up above the trench line is barbed wire and … nothing else. No birds, no animals … no people. A few dead bodies of the brave men going to assassinate the enemy by night fall, but stopped dead in their tracks, they got picked off by the sharpshooters. No! No one ever makes it! Never! There is a constant sound of gun blasts and the sound of explosions from the grenades. The dark is lit up by the flashes of the guns against the silver clouded sky. Nobody dares to look up for more than a few seconds otherwise they will be taken out.