The vast majority of the population comprises 74% of Muslims (Fisher). Various Christian denominations make up 10%, and the remaining 16% is made up of other Muslims, such as Alawis, Ismailis, Shi’as, and Druze (Fisher). The current government in power since 1970 is the Assad regime, which follows the Alawite religion. The conflict in Syria is a result of numerous political and religious disputes between the national government and rebel forces. Two main parties are involved in the Syrian conflict: the National government and the Free Syrian Army. The Classification stage of Genocide is exemplified here with the ‘Us versus Them’ mentality. The current president, Bashar al-Assad, has been in office since 2000. He succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, who led Syria beginning in 1970 until his death in 2000. When Bashar al-Assad took power, he promised reforms and even allowed for criticism. This time of reform is known as the Damascus Spring, but he quickly resorted to his father’s dictatorship ways (Cornish). The al-Assad family belongs to the minority group of Alawites, which is similar to “an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia” (Belisle). Hafez al-Assad kept his control of Syria for so long by influencing the divisions in Syrian society to keep anyone else from gaining enough power to challenge his rule (Fisher). The other party involved is the Free Syrian Army. The FSA, led by Col Riad al-Asaad, was formed in August 2011 and is made up of defected Syrian army members with the goal to take down the al-Assad regime (Fisher). The classification of “Us versus Them” is a root of religious, ethnic, and political conflicts. Among various theories pertaining to the conflicts in Syria, the “Us versus Them” mentality is a significant factor. The government justifies their egregious actions by saying that they were simply trying to maintain order and control of the country. They say that as the government, they had the right to act as they deemed necessary. On the other hand, the Free Syrian Army argues that because of the way citizens are treated, they had justified reasons to rebel and fight back. The conflicts occurring in the ever-problematic Middle East have many solutions, none of which are easily attainable or easy to execute. The dictator-like regime of the Assad family has been going on for over 40 years and is likely on the decline. The promised economic and social reforms of Bashar al-Assad have largely been a contributing factor to unrest in Syria. Also, the majority of Syrian citizens, who are Sunni Arabs, are not represented and treated fairly by the government, which is a contributing factor to the Civil War.
SUMMARY: The Syrian Civil War between the Syrian government, and the insurgents, as well as the Free Syrian Army has been escalating since early 2011. The United States, and our allies have faced difficulty in sending aid to Syria, and continue to deal with obstacles in sending even basic medications to Syrian civilians. However, the United States and its allies have also contributed to the lack of organization and the disparity in Syria by sending aid and artillery to individuals based only on political connection, and ignoring organization, local alliances, and without a true understanding of the reality of the Syrian localities to best protect the Syrian protestors. The question addressed in this memo will be defining the viable options to be pursued in Syria, how to pursue them, and assessing the most beneficial path of least resistance when offering aid, funds, and artillery to specific groups in the country. The recommendation will be that although the best alternative action item would be to choose a Syrian group with the least oppositional values comparative to the United States to fund, supply with arms, and train; that the United States should do nothing for the time being. Given the physical and financial risk involved with the Syrian Civil War, it would be prudent for the United States to simply observe how the war progresses over the next several months, as well as complete some research to truly understand the state of affairs in local areas of Syria to determine the extent to which the United States could identify a group to provide aid to, as well as the extent to which the United States involvement would be within Syria.
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.
Maoz, Moshe. Syria Under Assad (RLE Syria) Domestic Constraints and Regional Risks.. Hoboke, New Jersey: Taylor and Francis, 2013. eBook.
The Syrian Crisis began almost three years ago. Since then, the killings, the bombings and the fleeing haven’t stopped. Obama’s administration was blamed for letting the Assad regime, which is an Alawite minority, tyrannize its Sunni people who are a majority, for all this time, and for allowing the radical jihadist power, a part of the opposition, to benefit from the uprising.
As some were killed in detention, protests spread throughout the countryside, after the government failed to punish the murderers. Then, in April of 2011, shots were fired at protestors, and a full-scale armed rebellion flared. By July of the same year, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed. The FSA was formed by independent local militias with the aim of toppling the Syrian government without any central control. When Jihadists joined in the FSA, the rebel militia lost what little control they had with the impulsive extremists. Another factor of Syrian disunion is due to the Jihadists separate agenda to the FSA, no one could be trusted. By 2013, the death toll of Syrians form the Civil War was over 100,000. Another factor of Syrian disunion was the threat of chemical warfare by Syrian President Al-Assad. With constant terror dominating society, and a miserable lifestyle, rid of hope, it is easy to see why there is such a large number of Syrians seeking
Since Syria has such a young population they are exposed to new ideas and they aren’t afraid to stand up for change. In March 2011, there were protests against the government and al-Assad. While protesting a group of teens painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall, and they were soon imprisoned. This enraged the rest of the Syrian population because the group of teens were being tortured by the government. Once the government released them there was more protesting. The police shot and killed a 4 protesters. While at th...
Syria is currently all over the news regarding what many have to come to see as a civil war. A term like civil war needs to identify the players and the reasons for the war. In this case the players are being identified as pro government or antigovernment with a Sunni or Shia overtone. Sunni and Shia are the two major sects of Islam and both have a historical based conflict going back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad and how Muslims should be governed. This conflict has caused tensions and violence to flare up throughout Islamic history. This conflict has carried into modern times and has becoming a rallying point for Muslim people calling for change with their government and across the Middle Eastern region. The Sunni Shia conflict is major division within Islam that has and continues to shape Islam and the Middle East.
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.
The Syrian Uprising is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath government and those seeking to oust its regime. The conflict has many complex entities with factions present that are seeking their own foothold in the country’s struggle over power. However, this was not always the case and an examination will take place into weather the conflict can be defined as either a civil war, an insurgency or a proxy conflict. The definition of the type of conflict is relevant as it is critical to whether or not intervention is necessary and how states may go about it, for instance, the laws of war are different from the laws of armed protests. In the case of Syria, it is vital for the UN to understand the progression of the conflict to legitimise what aid is to be given, if any, and to legally intervene in the conflict. The UN would need to use the type of conflict to draw aims of any intervention, looking beyond deposing Assad for his alleged war crimes of chemical weapon use.
While the term “civil war” seems to be the “preferred term for the ongoing violence in Syria” (Keating, Would You Know a Civil War When You Saw One?), it is evident that the war has seeped out of Syria’s borders as other countries have attempted to intervene. Herbert Wulf writes in his essay, The bumpy road to re-establish a monopoly of violence, that “A characteristic of recent wars is a disruption or loss of the state monopoly of violence, as it can neither be adequately exercised nor can the rule of law be maintained” (Wulf). As much as the violence seems to be contained w...
In 2011 a protest broke out challenging the author of President Bashar Assad. The government cracked down on the group of protesters violently killing many of them. Now eleven million people, about half of the population have fled and have taken refuge in other countries, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan mainly. Because of war, conflict and persecution, all around the globe, sixty million people
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...
Recently there has been rising of conflicts roaring throughout the Middle East. Such risings include the attacks the Syrians are fleeing as their government continue to attack their beloved country or Israel’s government continue to build illegal settlements on Palestinian’s
As you are aware, there have been many concerns with Syria. The issue involves Assad, President of Syria, and ISIS, a Syrian rebel group. This problem is advancing and developing into an international dilemma as the U.S we have to take control. Assad killed over 1,400 people, including children, with maybe the use of chemical weapons within the countries. This may or may not be reliable information because there are investigations in order to prove the theory. The problem with ISIS is that they have beheaded and slaughtered many innocent people to prove a point.
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.