Is The Conflict In Syria A Civil War, An Insurgency Or A Proxy Conflict?

Is the conflict in Syria a civil war, an insurgency or a proxy conflict?

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.

In order to categorise the conflict, the each of the terms requires defining: A civil war can be defined as “two or more opposing parties within a country resorting to arms to settle a conflict or when a substantial portion of the population takes up arms against the legitimate government of a country.” Insurgency can be defined as a “civil war characterised by a power asymmetry between belligerent groups. The weaker of these groups constitutes the ‘insurgent’ party, while the stronger is the government. Through ideological and social manipulation of the general population, the insurgent party ultimately seeks to transfer political power from the government to...

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...alanced as the conflict has gone on however to form a civil war. It can also be seen that international state and non-state actors have had more involvement in the conflict since its inception in April 2011. This continually increasing involvement has turned the conflict into a proxy-civil war that does not appear to have any clear outcome. In its current climate, the Syrian conflict can be seen in a different light to sides involved: The Assad regime still sees the conflict as an insurgency. The rebel groups continue to see their conflict as a civil war and hope one day for a revolution, whereas the international community can quite clearly see the conflict is now a proxy conflict between many states, however, the key actors involved in this proxy conflict can be seen as US vs Russia and Iran, Saudi Arabia vs Hezbollah and Iran and Israel vs Syria and Hezbollah.