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Foreign intervention in Syria
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Freedom: something taken for granted by citizens all over the first world countries. The struggle for freedom all around the world is a very real one. Recently, the fight for freedom has taken the oppressed by storm. All over the globe, there have been many examples of people fed up with corruption and ready to take control of their lives and the lives of their children. This is evident through the struggles for freedom seen in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, and most recently Ukraine. It’s 2014 and governments controlled by a central authority or dictator are still prevalent. Countries all over the world have been isolated and stripped of their individual voices. The struggle for freedom coexists with the struggle of finding a voice. A voice is what the Libyan people found in February of 2011 when they started protests against a regime that ruled for forty-two years in isolated dictatorship. Three years later, the very same voice that liberated them is one of the gigantic obstacles they’re facing in establishing a functioning government in the country. This emphatic voice that has been silenced for 42 years by an iron-fisted rule is now louder than ever. The consensus is that they want an operational democracy in place as soon as possible. But three years have passed, and the country is more restless than ever. The country is completely dysfunctional and there is no telling what the people will do next if a stable democratic constitution isn’t in place soon. They’ve just ousted their fourth prime minister in less than three years and casualties are increasing by the day. The current Libyan situation is widely attributed to the 2011 revolution. That being said, understanding how the 2011 revolution happened and why it unfolded the way it...
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..., town by town, to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idly by”. This refers to the notion that when one state is suffering, that is when international relations has to kick into gear and help out. But was there an incentive for the international system to help Libya(oil maybe?). Specifically a unipolar superpower like the US. They didn’t help in Tunisia or Egypt, why Libya in particular? During the revolution, NATO backed the Libyan rebels and cause them to win vey battles during the civil war. US made a promise to continue to help Libya in its’ pursuit of democracy, but it looks as though Libya is going to have to figure this part of it fate on its own as most countries are staying away at the moment. But when the economy is up and running, and oil production is back at its peaks, What will the international system look like for Libya then?
Early 2011 uprisings swept across the Middle East and North Africa, and many rebellions are still going on today. The Arab region has seen revolts and conflict since the 1800‘s, but only recently have these revolts been redirected to the problems of Arab society (Ghannam, J. 2011 pg 4-5)The Arab Spring Uprising was first sparked in Tunisia and eventually struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and then spread to other countries. Citizens throughout these countries were dissatisfied with the rule of their local governments. Issues like human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, dictators...
Press, The Associated. “IEA Says Libyan Oil Exports Halted.” 15 March 2011. 25 March 2011
Iraq’s history is one of both prosperity and violence, and dates back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. While dominated by a variety of civilizations, the region enjoyed a relatively stable society. Since the birth of Islam, the religion has been the dominant cultural belief of the region, and has made its way into the laws and ruling of the region. (InDepth Info, 2010)
BACKGROUND: In March of 2011, the unrest in Syria was just beginning, with protests g...
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
In Tunisia, young people have taken control of a country that has been under the control of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for the last 20 years. Tunisians could not get jobs without being extorted by local officials. They could not buy a house without bribing an official. Any activity involving government often required money to push the paperwork through. Tunisians who received coll...
In those countries that have not experienced government upheaval, a common outcome of the Arab Spring has been sustained civil unrest, political instability, and the extension of political and economic concessions by leaders seeking to appease protesters. Many questions could arise as one contemplated those events. One of these questions would be: Why has the Arab Spring produced different results across the Middle East? This paper is a humble attempt to suggest some answers to this sort of these logical questions.
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.
In March 2011 Syria’s government, led by Pres. Bashar al-Assad, faced an unprecedented challenge to its authority when pro-democracy protests erupted throughout the country. Protesters demanded an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime, in place since Assad’s father, Ḥafiz al-Assad, became president in 1971. The Syrian government used violence to suppress demonstrations, making extensive use of police, military, and paramilitary forces. Opposition militias began to form in 2011, and by 2012 the conflict had expanded into a full-fledged civil war.
One of most crucial aspects of humanitarian intervention is the lack of proper motives. As noted by Bush, Martiniello, and Mercer, in the case of Libya and Côte d’Ivoire the Western nations were pursuing their own economic imperial interests under the guise of humanitarian intervention (Bush). The lack of pure motives to help decrease crimes against humanity resulted in an increased number of human rights violations in both Libya and Côte d’Ivoire (Bush). In order
The no-fly zone and naval blockade of Libya pressured Gaddafi to offer free elections in a cease-fire agreement, which was rejected by NATO and the NTC, and followed by NATO bombarding Tripoli (Carey). While the intervention was morally justified, it’s not clear that the humanitarian intervention was completely successful, as Libya is currently in another civil war (“National Post View”). The efforts of NATO and the United Nations helped bring peace to Libya for two years before another civil war broke out, so perhaps the intervention was partially successful. In the end, what needs to be considered in any intervention is whether or not there is a plan for how to change the country in the right direction, as well as making sure that foreign powers is not the only component holding the country
Human history is pock-marked with innumerable wars and revolutions. The cause for most of the revolutions has been the choice of freedom. The opportunity to live a life without physical, mental or emotional restrictions has been and still is of supreme importance to man. This has resulted in the most widely followed discipline of political governance: Democracy.
Western nations are increasingly sensitized to the human suffering of others, but this sense of compassion nurture by the media is very selective in its response to human suffering. The media spotlight ensures that governments directed their humanitarian energies to the crises in northern Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia, while at the same time millions perished in the brutal civil wars in Angola, Liberia, and the DRC. The examples of Somalia, and perhaps Kosovo demonstrate that interventions which begin with humanitarian credentials can all too easily degenerate into “a range of policies and activities which go beyond, or even conflict with, the label “humanitarian”‟ (Roberts 1993: 448). So each case has to be judged on its merit. A further fundamental and principal problem with the strategy of forced humanitarian intervention concerns the so-called `body-bag' factor.
The cornerstone of John Locke’s political theory stands on the basis of consent between the people and the ruling government, for without consent society reverts to a state of perpetual chaos much like the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. On January 25, 2011, the people of Egypt felt that Hosni Mubarak—the president of Egypt at the time—did not have the country’s best interests at heart and in a long overdue decision, decided to overthrow his regime. One could not say they did not see it coming as all the signs were there—police brutality, poverty and corruption were only a few of the many reasons behind the upheaval. The people wanted a democracy, for the government at the time did not maintain their natural rights; life, liberty and property. This goes in hand with John Locke’s belief that a rebellion will occur once a government infringes an individual’s rights. Locke said that “Men being, as has been said, by Nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this Estate, and subjected to the Political Power of another, without his own Consent.” In this case, Hosni Muburak lost the required consent once the residents of Egypt felt that they were experiencing a lifestyle riddled with infringed
Being safe and free are two natural instincts of animals and human beings. Even though we are born with these innate characteristics there is a huge difference between the development of the two over the course of history.