Lauren Wells
PSC 1003
Midterm
October 19, 2015
Three Perspectives on Russia’s Intervention in Syria
Much of the international news right now seems to relate to the crisis situation created by the civil war in Syria. The topic is on the minds of politicians, especially regarding the Syrian refugees hoping to escape the dangers of the war. Syrian rebels are attempting to overthrow the existing government. Some of these rebels have the support of the United States while others, such as those who are connected to ISIS, do not. Russia has intervened on the side of the Syrian government. The reasoning for their intervention is perceived differently depending on the political theory followed in the explanation. The three major theories in international relations are realism, liberalism, and constructivism -- each of which will be discussed in terms of how they would explain the Russian intervention in Syria.
The realist perspective of international politics proclaims that states are self-interested and act according to that priority. According to this theory, states are the key actors and they mainly use military power and diplomacy in order to achieve their goal of power and security for themselves. This international relations theory can thus explain Russia’s intervention in Syria as an act of self-interest. Realism also stresses the anarchy in the international institution. A realist may therefore explain Russia’s intervention in Syria as a selfish act, hoping
(Michales) The Russian Defense Ministry said that a training camp and ammo depot were destroyed by bombings near the Islamic State’s defector capital in Syria, Raqqa. The countries of France, Turkey, the United States, Germany, Britain, Qutar, and Saudi Arabia; all say that Russia’s actions will “only fuel more radicalization and extremism.” (Michales) Russia’s airstrikes complicate U.S. efforts to build a moderate opposition in Syria, designed to counter the Islamic State there. (Michales) Pentagon efforts to train and deploy forces stalled before Russia’s airstrikes, but any future recruitment could be difficult if the Pentagon doesn’t provide U.S- backed rebels with guarantee of protection if they come under Russian attack. (Michales) Iraq is accepting help from both the United States and Russia is an ally to the Shiite- dominated government, Iraqi leaders will follow them, while the U.S has been trying to force the Iraqis to compromise with the Sunnis. Nonetheless, when the time comes, Iraq will pick Russia for help to fight
65). Syrian’s that are stuck in refugee camps or still living in Syria are fighting for the freedom from authority that they did not agree to, the war has killed over 220,000 people and displaced half of the country’s population (GIlsinan, 2015). The states thus far have responded to the many facets of this crisis with very realist approaches via military action. Realists will tend to prioritize power and place it above and separate from morality and ideology, basing their arguments on tradition and focusing on the power to be gained or lost in the situation (Goldstien, 56). Are force and fraud the most reasonable types of action (Suth, Elias 2007), where is the morality; “More than a third of Americans want to ban Muslims from entering the United states” (Hayoun 2015, The independent). It appears that realism is winning the war against idealism in the US - realism is pessimistic and cynical towards life and human nature, thus there is no hope for a good end of human kind (Najob, Hamed, Gandomikal 2015). One possible motivation of the American people to adopt this very pessimistic and realist way of looking at the crisis and the Muslim population as a whole, is they might assume that liberalist approaches, with its theories in moral reasoning, may
The parties involved in many civil wars are often not just limited to the country in which the war is actually taking place. Often, other countries will give aid to one side of the conflict or even involve their own military forces. Recent examples of such occurrences include Russian, American, and Turkish involvement in the present Syrian Civil War and the NATO bombing campaign during the Kosovo War. These countries expend massive amounts of resources and lose great numbers of troops in these conflicts often to uncertain ends. This begs the question: Why do foreign powers involve themselves in the civil wars of other countries? It is possible that such interventions occur because the intervening party believes that they could make strategic gains by doing so. Another theory is that countries intervene when they feel that there is a moral obligation to get involved in the conflict (Kim 2012, 19). However, even when circumstances seem to be in favor of a foreign power intervening, they do not involve themselves. This paper will test these hypotheses by examining the intervention by the United States and Russia primarily in the current Syrian Civil War and attempt to discern their motives for
Assad has been manipulating its own country and making its people be afraid (“CNN”). Genocide has occurred and is ongoing,” Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chairman of the panel, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, said in a statement (“Bruce”). We also have heard that the commission on Syria has repeatedly recommended referral of the crimes to the International Criminal Court, but no action has followed from the Security Council, where Russia, a permanent member and the closest ally of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, wields a veto (“Bruce”). Also the US strikes inside Syria an effort to “degrade and ultimately destroy the U.S intervention because of the chemical attack and the deaths of hundred civilians (“BBC”). Hezbollah, Iran’s ally and Israel’s enemy, is now fighting alongside Assad’s forces (“HuffPost”). What moscow insists to only have peace in syria and settlement because of all the violence and stop terrorizing pure Syrians(“Huffpost”). Russia has about 6 million muslims in their country (“Huffpost”). Well Russia (and China) insists that humanitarian interventions should rightly be authorized by the U.N. Security Council (where Russia wields a veto). But the U.N.-sanctioned, NATO-led war against Mu’ammar Gaddafi's Libya the prime minister
Imagine. The world around you is falling apart. Turmoil and chaos surround you as you are awoken by explosions, firefights, screaming, and crying every morning. You go to bed every night wondering if someone will break into your home and steal anything valuable that has not been taken by the civil war already. You think about the dead bodies you saw on the side of the road; how they got there, what they did to deserve such a punishment, how their loved ones are doing and if they have found out the horrendous news yet. You are left with the choice to either continue to take your chances in your war torn country or you can accept the unknown and attempt to run away from all the chaos that you have known for the past few years. The latter might sound like the obvious choice, but where will you go? Every country surrounding Syria has closed its borders, so where do you? How will you continue to feed yourself? Your children..? This is just the average day in the life of a citizen of Syria. The Middle East has seen turmoil for years, and this civil war is not going to make anything better. Therefore, I find it crucial to continue to maintain the same amount intervention with Syria as the world has been. Success in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will depend on a clear, effective U.S. strategy in the region. It is in the best interests of the U.S. to ensure that ISIS is
With the Syrian conflict starting as a civil war and then escalating into a conflict amongst many other countries I can now understand the how this escalation happened. Within our simulation I could try to compare the outside forces looking inward into a country. As a comparison Krussia would be our Syria, outside forces were sanctioning them to relinquish their terrorists and almost freezing them out of many of our country trades. This had happened to Syria on May 18, 2011 with the US imposing against Syria with the US Treasury Department saying this, “...any property in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons in which the individuals listed in the Annex have an interest is blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them…” after this it was a domino effect; the European Union banned the import of Syrian oil and formed a sanction against Syrian government because of their mistreatment of the people. From our simulation and our class lecture this seems to be a credible commitment problem within the syrian government to its people. With many outside sources trying to form a collective action solution for Syria and with the Syrian people wanting their basic Human Rights it was a double edge sword for the government. Recently there has been action taken against Syria though with a warning to evacuate portions of syria surrounding a government airforce base which supposedly were the warships that had attacked the city of Khan Sheikhoun and had chemical weapons loaded onto warplanes. This statement from BBC after the chemical bombing says, “Activists and witnesses say warplanes attacked Khan Sheikhoun, about 50km (30 miles) south of the city of Idlib, early on Tuesday [April 4], when many people were asleep…The explosion sent a yellow
The involvement of the Soviet Union in Congo caused a numerous amount of problems. The Congo was facing political and social instability because of the Belgian troops that were present and taking control over the land at the time. This all led to the United States getting involved, they supported the United Nations order to remove Belgian troops. The United States were supporting the UN but wanted to have a stable, pro-western regime through vote buying and financial support for pro-Western candidates, they believed that this could be achieved if they would assist the people of the Congo by removing the Belgian forces. The Europeans had took it upon themselves to invade the Congo and help the natives without receiving permission from the Prime Minister at the time, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba was enraged by this and grew resentment towards the Belgians which created more conflict within the Congo, many external and internal factors affected the rise and fall of the Congo nation which ultimately led to Congo being free from the Belgians in 1960.
Both Russia and the Western allies united during the Second World War as they shared a common enemy. However, prior to the ending of the war it became conspicuous that the allies contrasting values would become problematic. It can be argued that the Second Front was the predominant dispute between the allies, as Russia became cautious of the West as a result of the delay in the operation. Opposing to this interpretation, it can also be argued that there are more significant events which hindered the relationships. This is as it can be seen that the alternative post war plans were of more importance, as both allies hoped to achieve more power which became an issue due to their contrasting beliefs. In addition, it can also be argued that it was
A current issue on the minds and agendas of the international community is the Syrian Refugee Crisis. The situation has only escalated since its start in 2011, and as the number of displaced Syrians reaches over 9 million, countries around the world, not just the ones in the Middle East, are increasing efforts to offer asylum and aid for these people. The Syrian Refugee Crisis began with peaceful anti-government protests in March of 2011, but after the violent response of the government, rebels, army defectors, and many civilians formed the Free Syrian Army by July of the same year (Mercy Corps, Sept 2nd, 2015). The presence of ISIS within Syria and the differing views of religious groups (namely Sunni and Shiite) in the country only add to the chaos of destruction of the country and the Syrian people’s lives and homes. With the constant state of war within the country, basic necessities like food, water, and shelter have become scarce and Syrian people are looking to find new homes of stability and safety. The large majority of Syrians have fled to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey. However the burden of harboring these refugees has put huge stress on the countries as the sheer number of people entering the country becomes too much to handle. Today one in five people living in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee (Mercy Corps, Sept 2nd, 2015). With the neighboring countries already beyond capacity, Syrians are looking for shelter in places outside this
As seen on television, Syria is in disarray and in the midst of a deadly conflict. This conflict did not appear out of nowhere. In fact, this Syrian Civil war is the result of a variety of historic and contemporary factors. In the middle of a grosme civil war, Syria is experiencing consistent intervention by world powers like the United States of America and Russia, a variety of human rights abuses and the ever growing threat of islamic extremist in the region. Too many political scientist and historians Due to foreign intervention, a political power vacuum, religious strafe and the Arab Spring it isn't surprising to political scientist and historians that all of these factors have contributed
The cold war was official over in the 1990 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and in the years to come the United States even provide economic relief in terms of lifting sanctions and monies. The question becomes why did we aid and enemy to whom was in economic ruin and unable to sustain himself. the bottom line was the Russia’s still had nuclear weapons, a lot of them. Nobody wanted Russia selling them on the open market or becoming under the control of a rouge military unit. The U.S. and the world aided Russia in its rebuilding. Carl von Clausewitz states in chapter one of On War that the aim of war is to disarm the enemy. We did not disarm them. We signed treaty to limited the weapons and disarm some thus relieving some tensions, they retained possession of all their weapons and weapons technologies. Don’t forget what else Clausewitz stated:
Since the Syrian Civil War started, there are horrible things going around all over the world. As two superpowers of the world, the Russian and US governments have been taking positions in this war too. According to Putin (2013), the Syrian War is not just a battle for democracy. There are many different religious groups who are fighting with each other and the government to take the control of the country. Not just Arabian mercenaries, there are hundreds of militants from Western countries and Russia are fighting there. When these militants return to their countries, they might be in an endeavor to do awful things.
The Syrian refugee crisis has received massive media coverage. People around the world are trying to comprehend the desperate, complicated situation surrounding Syria. The civil war in Syria is the worst crisis in our time. Syrians upset at the fact that long promised reforms have not been enacted, began anti-government demonstrations which started the civil war in 2011. The peaceful protests turned ugly, with the government violently putting an end to those protests. Afterward, ordinary citizens took arms, causing the situation to escalate. Syrians are fleeing their homes because of the great violence, which have left thousands dead and millions wounded, a collapsed infrastructure, resulting in a shattered economy, and for the safety of the children. Syrians are either streaming to surrounding countries or risking their lives to travel to Europe.
Nowadays, we can scarcely turn on our televisions or pick up a newspaper without being confronted with yet another depressing news item about the Syrian civil war. As the crisis in Syria rages the question of whether western countries especially UK should intervene militarily in order to halt the Syria regime’s slaughter of innocent civilians is raised. Should the western countries turn a blind eye to the atrocities that take place in Syria or should they use force and intervene to the state affairs of another state in order to quell the violence? This essay is
The United States and Russia both emerged from WW2 as superpowers. Both of these nations had vastly different ideologies regarding government and the economy. As these two nations struggled to gain increased power and influence globally it seemed almost inevitable that yet another war would ensew. Yet matters were complicated by what had originally been an American super weapon- the atomic bomb which first tests were conducted in 1945. This atomic bomb technology had been stolen by the soviets and each side now possessed enough of these deadly weapons to end the world. As such neither side could choose to directly confront one another as such as action would almost certainly bring about M.A.D. Simalutanly the waning influence of the French and British empires led to numerous liberation movements globally in which various groups fought for control of the former colonies. Such an environment fostered much concern and brought about the American policy of Containment. Containment was a policy originally devised by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan. Kennan had long observed the soviet union and was aware of the desire of the Soviet Union to expand and become a global empire through the use of Marxist satellite states and allies. Kennan theodore established the basis of containment which involved effectively stopping the formation of new communist nations (with military force if necessary) in order to subvert soviet influence whilst simultaneously avoiding a potential nuclear war.