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.
One of the key factors that fueled violence in the Syrian War was due to foreign influence. In September 2015, airstrikes were inaugurated by both the United States and Russia. These airstrikes were targeted towards terrorists. However, the US and Russia had different views on groups. "Russia includes many US- supported rebels groups in their lists of 'terrorists'" (Document G) The US viewed the Kurdish group as an ally, while Russia viewed them as a terrorist group. Due to the opposing perspectives from both foreign countries on Syrian groups, the conflict of being unsure of who to strike arose. The US attacked who they believed were terrorists while Russia did the same, therefore creating violence all over. The Chart in Document D displays the relationships between foreign countries and Syrian groups. Russia
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and Iran are allies with the Syrian Regime while the US, Saudi Arabia & Qatar, and Turkey are all enemies of the group. The involvement of foreign countries fueled the violence during the Syrian Civil War due to the different enemies and allies. Another key factor that fueled violence in the Syrian War was from Sectarian Opposition.
An example of sectarian opposition could be between the Sunni group and the Alawite group. The Sunnis were opposed to the Alawite Regime. "This dynamic has given rise to a grim, self-perpetuating cycle of sectarian violence with civilians increasingly suffering on both sides." (Document B) Both groups blamed one another causing tension. The Sunnis were not the only group to challenge the Alawites, citizens resented them as well. "Scores of shops owned by Sunnis were burned and vandalized." (Document C) The Alawites were hated so much that their things were
destroyed. The final key factor that fueled violence in the Syrian Civil war was opposition conflicts. All groups were opposed to the Syrian Regime. Yet all groups were against each other as well. The Rebels were limitedly fighting Jabhat al-Nusra. The Kurds were limitedly fighting Jabhat al-Nusra. However, all except for the Syrian regime were heavily fighting with ISIS. Isis had an extremist view of Islamic rule. "It has shown its readiness to take on any Syrian it doesn’t like, whether opposition or regime supporters." (Document E) ISIS will go against whomever regardless if they are pro government or antigovernment. Thus, creating more violence. The Syrian War was intensely violent from many different factors. Each factor resulted in a unique consequent. It can be concluded the three most significant factors that fueled the violence in the Syrian Civil War are due to foreign influence, sectarian opposition, and opposition conflicts.
How does one region have a prolonged battle for authority, and conflict with the opposing force for eternity? After the Ottoman Empire sided the Central Powers during World War I, they didn’t foresee that they would lose their empire based off of this decision. European countries that won the war came in and partitioned the Middle Eastern region. Soon after the Sykes-Picot Agreement was established, and the Arabs felt betrayed because they weren't granted their deserved independence. The new borders set caused continuous conflict because of the artificial blending of different ethnic and religious groups. International conflicts have contributed to regional conflict in Southwest Asia by forming borders without regards to the different ethnic and religious groups, creation of the state Israel in 1948, and the U.S. being involved in the matters of the Middle
Document A has a graph that shows how unarmed and innocent civilians are being killed more than any other group of people. According to the note in the document, “It is extremely difficult to track Syria’s war casualties due to the ongoing violence... As of February 2016, total death estimates ranged from 250,000 to 470,000.” (Doc. A). This means that because the violence that is practically non stop, so many innocent lives are being taken away. Also in Document A, a picture shows how many civilians were forced to flee their homes. Around 4.5 million people were forced to flee their country. In Document B, it tells how two sects, Sunni and Alawites. The Sunnis represent the opposing force while the Alawites represent the Assad regime. Both sides have been continuously holding each other responsible for violations real and perceived. In the document, it states, “This dynamic has given rise to a grim, self-perpetuating cycle of sectarian violence with civilians increasingly suffering on both sides.” (Doc. B). This means that the battle between the two sides is has been continuing indefinitely. This relates to the claim that this is driving the Syrian War into intense brutality because it shows how so many civilians are getting killed because of ongoing violence either by themselves or by the government that is supposed to protect
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 night before the anniversary of 9/11 in 2013, Barack Obama delivered a speech to the United States of America on the subject of Syria’s inhumane use of chemical weapons on its own citizens. The United States’ intelligence analysts estimated that more than 1,400 civilians were killed due to the chemical warheads that were launched on the area right outside of Damascus. In President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on Syria, he attempts to persuade the American people to support his plan of a targeted air strike on Syria. By describing the victims of Syria, giving reasons for the inhumanity of the Syrian government, and reinforcing his credibility,
The first is the sectarian conflict. The sectarian conflict was a conflict dealing with the race and religion of the sects. The two sects are Islam and Muslim. The conflict went nowhere because it is self perpetuating. The rate of casualties is too high, making it hard to tell how many people have been killed. This is partly caused by the death of civilians, which is 30% of the casualties. Also, there are people that are being forced to leave from their homes because of their government and just war in their area. The Sunni are dominating the other force, but are also hurting civilians, and the alawite heavy regime are holding up to them, but they are getting hurt
The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job. This is what was done, and the Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, bec...
The uneven amount of unfairness in Syria is fueling the violence. The reasons why Syria started a war because there were not much freedom, unemployment, widespread corruption, etc.
The Mujahideen opposed the Soviets and Karmal government because both supported a communist government which rejected religion and wanted to modernize the government away ...
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 late 2013 U.S. intelligence Service reporters claimed that chemical weapons have been used in Syria. In addition, during the civil war many innocent people died. Both the rebels and the government caused much destruction in Syria because of their feud. U.S. intelligence services sent reporters to Syria to collect evidence as to whether chemical weapons had been used or not. This issue was addressed by the foreign policy editor Noah Shachtman in his article “Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say” when he explained, “Soil, blood, and other environmental samples were positive for reactions with nerve agent.” This evidence reveals that somehow chemical weapons have been used in Syria but there is still the question who is responsible for the attack. Both sides blame each other and no one knows which side used the chemicals. Despite all the destruction that the civil war caused the war is also affecting civilians who are innocent. In the same article Noah also acknowledges “There are some videos of young victims that show people who can barely breathe and twitching and also some interviews with their doctors” This evidence refers to how people are influenced because of the ...
To be a spectator of any sporting event one must understand the rules that the players and officials use to govern the game. Without this knowledge it can become an immense challenge to understand if things are going well or poorly for your team or player. An excellent example would be if watching a golf tournament and you have no idea that the low score wins. The worst player in the tournament might end up looking like the winner, and that could not be any further from the truth. Understanding world politics can be very much like watching a sporting event you have no idea of what the rules are. The United Nations (U.N.) has rules that its member states should follow, but they are in many cases treated more like a guideline, such as the American invasion of Iraq. So how can the global citizenry understand why some global leaders choose one course of action over another, especially if there are no set rules with guaranteed results for each action, like a touchdown results in six points? For the global citizenry, the best way to understand global politics is to look to the theories that the global leadership subscribe to. And the only way to determine which theory they subscribe to short of asking each leader directly is to analyze their actions. The realist philosophy will be the theory that best explains the actions of global leaders and therefore will become the rule book to look to when understanding global politics.
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.
I believe that the Syrian government and the rebels are the most responsible for the civil war. The government was very controlling and may have pushed their people off the edge. The Syrian government killed people in a riot of and the rebels decided to do something. The rebels are also responsible because they started a war with the government, making things much worse for the people who lived there. There are also a few reasons that are not the fault of people that helped create the war. ISIS and other outside groups are responsible for making the war worse, but not responsible for starting it.
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...
A. Starting in 1948, right in the middle of the Arab-Israeli war, the initiation of the Arab League boycott of Israel was a coherent effort by Arab League member states, whose intention was to isolate Israel financially and economically (Perez). The League ventured effortlessly to prevent Arab states and disincentivize non-Arabs from providing support to Israel or adding to Israel's economic stability. The boycott was also designed to deter Jewish immigration to the region (Consequences of the War). There was a total of 22 Middle Eastern and African countries that supported the boycott and its effort to prevent any and all economic growth in Israel. Throughout the period of this ongoing boycott, many trade barriers have been put in place, limiting trade between Israel and other countries (Slavicek 65).