The Syrian Civil War

                     

                                Paul Simpson

 

 

The Syrian civil war began on the 15th of March 2011 as demonstrations began against the Assad presidency. During these demonstrations protestors demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. The Presidency of the country had been passed down dynastically since 1971

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 These protests were a continuation of a trend of demonstrations in neighbouring countries around the same time, known as the Arab Spring. The media term Arab Spring began to be used in December 2010 to describe these protests, riots and civil wars that began in the Arab world at this time. Al Jazeera described the Arab Spring as “part of US strategy controlling [the movement’s] aims and goals” in order to liberalise the area and bring it more in line with the ideals of western democracy.

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 As a result of the Arab Spring movements governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen were replaced, in the case of Egypt this happened on more than one occasion. The Syrian demonstrations were further divisive because of the demographics involved in the sectioning of the population. In general terms the majority of the pro-Assad side of the conflict are Shia, while the majority of those against the regime are Sunni. The religious aspect of the conflict further escalates tensions between the sides as a result of deep-rooted traditions and a long history of clashes between the groups, as well as the more contemporary examples in countries such as Iraq.

 

Human Rights Watch reports on the effects of the conflict on the civilian population as follows:

 

“According to the Syrian Centre for Policy Research, an independent Syrian research organization, the death toll from the conflict as of February 2016 was 470,000. The spread and intensification of fighting has led to a dire humanitarian crisis, with 6.1 million internally displaced people and 4.8 million seeking refuge abroad, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. By mid-2016, an estimated 1 million people were living in besieged areas and denied life-saving assistance and humanitarian aid.”

 

Further complicating matters on an international level, especially when considering international involvement in the conflict is the role of al-Qaeda and ISIS in the conflict. By late 2013 it was reported that ISIS controlled a greater proportion of Syria than the government forces did. This has led to a great deal of internal struggle on an international level with western countries who wish to depose Assad essentially aiding and arming ISIS and al-Qaeda forces in the area, while fighting against them in other areas and countries. This element has been used by many political commentators to question the foreign policy of western countries such as the US and UK as well as their funding and arming of terrorist groups overseas and their on-going loyalties to other countries, such as Saudi Arabia that do the same.