The Syrian Civil War Crisis

Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of modern time. The “Syrian Civil war Began in March of 2011, between rebel brigades and government force; economy and infrastructure is destroyed” (Library, 2016). “Divisions between secular and religious fighters, and between ethnic groups, continue to complicate the politics of the conflict” (Corps, 2016). Additionally, the Syrian civil war has taken a significant

This memo seeks to offer insight into the current emergency in Syria and how it threatens the security of US. It is hoped that it will help shape US foreign policy for Syria with the aim of protecting Americans from acts of terrorism and at the same time save the lives of Syrians.

I am writing to you today as a student at the College of William and Mary. I am in an International Security class and recently we studied the events occurring in Syria. As you are well aware, the situation in Syria has been dramatically deteriorating in recent months with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the recent entrance of Russia into the conflict. Syria, meanwhile, has been in the midst of a ravaging civil war since the early spring of 2011. Currently, the government of Syria is led by President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, a branch of the same Ba’ath Party that Saddam Hussein was also a member of. This similarity may lead some to think that Syria will end up like Iraq, with a

Syria’s civil war has overflows of violence all around the world. Groups like ISIS who feel as if the west has caused the plight of the Arabs or Muslims will attempt to retaliate against the west, curbing that overflow by funding NGO’s, United Nations agencies, and other programs that are assisting in putting an

Since the September 11th 2001 attacks on the soil of the United States of America, the country has been engaged in a war on terror, particularly with the group Al Qaida. At first the country of Syria was an ally of the nation in its endeavors against terrorism until the point when the United States went to war with Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein in the mid-2000s. The relationship between the United States and Syria has been continually strained. Some of those who have authority and power in the United States advocate governmental interference over the issues of Syrian interference in Lebanon, over its relationship with the Palestinians, its record of violations of human rights against its own people, and its continual development of weapons of mass destruction despite direct order from the United Nations. Since 2011, there have been mass demonstrations in Syria to protest Bashar al-Asaad, the country's tyrannical ruler. The question at hand has then become whether or not the United States should intervene in the events in Syria or not.

As of recent, there is an ongoing debate over the response of the Obama administration related to the events occurring in Syria and the potential violation by the Syrian government of customary international law and relevant treaties and conventions in the use of chemical weapons against its own people. The conflict itself has history which is required to be thoroughly examined before conclusions can be placed and actions are to be carried out. The Syrian Civil War has not only affected the lives of Syria’s citizens but has becoming a pressing issue in direct international relations between countries like Russia and the United States. Obama’s administration has their own response to the crisis at hand and believes that a military strike is a fully legal move to make given the situation present at hand. According to the evidence, it would seem possible that a violation has not occurred and that the threat by Obama’s administration to use force in the Syrian crisis stands on illegitimate grounds because the proceedings are done by Syrian government on their own grounds. However the atrocious actions committed by the Assad regime could in fact provide legality to military intervention by the United States. Finally, the focus will be to determine whether chemical weapons are in fact the sole factor for international intervention.

Aleppo is a humanitarian catastrophe. Frequent air and chemical attacks leaves the average Syrian civilian in fear for their lives on a daily basis. With the Western half controlled by the Bashar al-Assad government and the Eastern half in controlled by anti-government rebels bloodshed always lingers. For years, power has shifted between the two sides with many outside forces joining, tipping the power balances. With no end in sight, massive loss of life is becoming a universal issue.

The United Nations Security Council responded to growing threats posed by terrorism in Syria along with humanitarian concerns in the country with Resolutions 2150 and 2249, the first of which calls on member states to fight genocide and crimes against humanity. The latter resolution gives member states authority to fight terrorist groups and prevent terror acts. It specifically mentions ISIL, ANF, and Al Qaeda, but leaves intervention open to combat all other terrorist groups. This constitutes the authorization by the Council for the use of force in a non-member state, in the interest of international peace and security. Following these resolutions, Syria has seen worsening violence, ongoing civil war, and increased refugees resulting in an estimated eleven million displaced Syrians. Many scholars have sought to evaluate how this authorization affects the legitimacy of the UN Security Council, and most of the arguments made fall into one of three schools of thought: liberalism, constructivism, or realism. Liberal conceptualizations take as a given the inherent value of the institution and may seek reform of the procedural aspects. Constructivism views legitimacy as a product of perception and tries to consider the Syrian intervention in terms of how member states and non-member states viewed the Council and the extent to which they believe it was legitimate in the authorization. The realist interpretation evaluates legitimacy under the

The Syrian War is a pressing issue that has been going on for over five years. This war, which started as peaceful protests against the Assad Government, has turned into a struggle for power within Syria which has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis. There have been eleven million Syrian refugees and over two hundred fifty thousand people that have been killed, half of those people being civilians. To make matters worse, ISIS is on the rise in Syria. This war is not only an internal conflict. It involves many international powers, including Russia, China, and the United States, that have picked sides between backing the Assad Government or the rebels. These two sides cannot agree on a solution to end this war, determine leadership in

“The people want the fall of the regime, It’s your turn doctor,” read a simple message crudely spray-painted on a school wall in the southern Syrian city of Darra. Little did the teenager perpetrators know that their defiant graffiti would act as a catalyst to one of the greatest humanitarian crisis in modern history. The message was directed towards Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, who was a practicing ophthalmologist prior to his presidency. It was a cry for democracy, a challenge towards al-Assad totalitarian authority in an oppressed and unstable region. Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi, dictators of Libya and Egypt, had just watched their regime collapse in a political uprising, leaving the al-Assad administration distressed over a similar revolution. Consequently, the boys were promptly arrested, beaten, and interrogated for their message of rebellion. Relatives, neighbors, and hundreds of other discontented citizens took the streets in protest in which al-Assad’s security forces responded to by opening fire, killing several. Thus marking the beginning of the Syrian civil war. As news spread hundreds of thousands more started taking the street in protest. Al-Assad responded with an iron fist, using force to hinder the protesting. The brutal and uncompromising response was intended to coerce Syrian civilians into submission, instead the opposite occurred, civilian resolve for revolution was strengthened.

Few wars in recent years have been able to compare with the sheer death, destruction, and contention; as Syria still remains embroiled in a half decade long war in a conflict that gradually begins to affect the lives of virtually everyone in terms of their beliefs and perception of the world. Upon it’s initial outbreak in March of 2011. The discontent amongst the Syrian populace has festered over the years due to the abhorrent and distant attitudes of the Assad regime and it seemed a ripe opportunity to revolt against their oppressive and authoritarian government as the Arab Spring gained massive attention across the world. The event that sparked massive protests in March of 2011 was the kidnapping of several Syrian children in a town 60

The President has directed the National Security Advisor to lead the formulation of a comprehensive Syria policy that supports the following objectives: a whole and unified Syria with no role for Bashar al-Assad in the government, the defeat of violent extremist groups like ISIS or Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, an end to the Syrian war, through political settlement, and the humanitarian crisis it has provoked, and the prevention of Iranian and Russian designs being realized in Syria. An upcoming NSC meeting will discuss strategy options for Syria.

The crisis in Syria is seemingly endless. There are two main forces in Syria. Syrian rebels against President Bashar al Assad’s regime abruptly emerged due to the discontent of the dictatorship and demand for democracy, and the government forces has been tried to suppress the furious rebel in order to maintain Assad’s dictatorial regime. Because of the collision between two antagonists that seem to never agree each other, people in Syrian are suffering from the devastating and nonselective bombing. Approximately, 250,000 people have died from the conflict, and over 4.5 million Syrians have migrated to different neighboring countries in Middle East and Europe (BBC News 2016). The civil war has been gone for years and years; however, the devastating war and inhumane government attack on people do not seem to be terminated. Because of the enlarging scale of the civil war, the global society considered the severity as one of the international affairs, and the United Nations eventually came up with a plan for resolution.

The Syrian conflict began with the Arab Spring uprisings against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 and quickly escalated into a civil war when Assad met peace with force. The Syrian Civil War has since transcended its internal objectives to become the arena for major international power struggles between countries, like Turkey, Iran, and the United States. On September 30, 2015, Russia entered the Syrian crisis on the side of Assad in opposition to the United States, who has been supporting the Sunni rebels. Russia’s economic gains through a jump in oil prices, paired with a history of American-Russian antagonism, encouraged Russia’s involvement in the war, while a history of nationalism and neo-imperialism has transformed the Syrian Civil War into a proxy war for prestige and domination in the Middle East.