In this paper I will seek to explore, examine and eventually explain the role of sectarianism in creating and escalating the civil war in Syria. The match that lit the Syrian Civil War was the detention
and alleged torture of a group of teenagers who wrote anti-regime graffiti on a concrete wall, this escalated into violent protests that involved the sacking of a number of local government buildings that served
as symbols of regime power and therefore as symbols of Shiite power. The government in Syria responded by sending in the fourth armoured division to crush the revolt, the fourth armoured division is an almost all Shia division and the military successor of
the infamous “Defence Companies” created and employed by the exiled Rifaat Al-Assad, the brother of the now dead former president Hafez Al-Assad, the fourth armoured division is a stark representation of the sectarian nature of not only the Syrian Civil
War but of the modern Syrian state, the fourth armoured division is the most well equipped, the best trained and the largest division in the Syrian Army, and it’s sectarian make up is not a coincidence. The division serves as a bulwark against any potential
Sunni led coup, this has always been the primary threat to the Assad family rule and it is also how the Assad family came into power in the first place, so naturally they have been especially sensitive to threats from within the military. But to understand all of
these modern events, we need to take a moment and look into the history of modern Syria, how did a majority Sunni country come to be ruled by a Shiite dynasty in the first place?. The answer to this lies in the life of the now deceased former president.
Hafez Al Assad, was born into a poor rura...
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... solution to the conflict in Syria is one that will take many years of reconciliation, the most basic and immediately available answer for this problem is education, starting with Syrian children both inside the country and out, secular academic education
is essential to moving forward, the other solution will take longer and be harder to implement but it is just as effective if not more, and that is ethnic solidarity among Syrians, the Syrian people share a common ethnic and cultural heritage that goes back not
hundreds but thousands of years, for every difference there is a million similarities, this must be stressed to Syrians both young and old, their national, cultural and ethnic identity must come before their religious identity, it is the only way to not only unite but
eventually -through years if not decades of reconciliation, repair that divided country.
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.
There is always that one person that stirs the pot in a situation that could have been solved rather quickly without them interfering. This is exactly what happened in Syria. The Syrian Civil War began when a peaceful protest when a group of teenagers who were writing anti-government graffiti on a wall. Syrian people called on their president who instead of making democratic reforms, acted in extreme violence against unarmed civilians. More than a quarter of a million people in Syria have been killed and over 10 million have been forced out of their homes. The Assad regime continues to suppress their citizens and they have begun using chemical bombs to kill thousands of Syrians and many even
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.
Twitter and tear gas central focus is on how the internet gas boosted the way protests movements are being
The Syrian Civil War, commonly referred to as the Syrian Uprising, is more than just the Assad Regime against the Free Syrian Army. It is a complex war of uprising against the Bashar al-Assad government, sectarian conflict, and outside country involvement. Overthrowing the Assad Regime in Syria would create more problems than there already are.
While the police may have attempted to stop protesting Thoreau states that this is a normal occurrence when a society attempted to ignore the wants of the government. “Men- serve the state with their conscience also, and so necessarily rests it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it” (3). He gives light to the notion that revolting and sending unrest when you are unhappy with your government can often bring you negative light.
...ively short period of time. After two month of activeness the only results are violent reprisals against opposition activists and politicians and imprisonment of protesters. After phased attack on the Presidential Administration and cruel dispersal of Maindan, no one from the state officials did not bare responsible.
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.
Jouejati, Murhaf. “Syrian Motives for Its WMD Programs and What to Do about Them.” Middle
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.
Their second march included a thousand people and when they barely started marching a block away the police commissioner was waiting for them and brutally arrested 900 people. The next day 25,000 people came out to march including many children. This time instead of arresting them they sprayed water and let loose attack dogs.
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.
In conclusion, constructivism is the best theory to explain situation in Syria as the Civil War is socially constructed. Furthermore, the identity conflict and absence of sovereignty shared norms are the factors that trigger inter-conflict to take place. Therefore, diplomacy negotiation is the best solution offered by constructivist in order to resolve the conflict peacefully. However, this solution has a limitation which is different powerful makes the mutual identity and goals difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, the question is, when the Syria Civil War will end? It only can be answer by the actors who involved in the disputed because every decision that they make, will create changes.
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...
Quarterly, inc. "Syria." The Middle East. 11th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2007. 437 - 456. Print.