The Root And Remote Causes Of The Syrian Civil War And Its Consequences
The Syrian war is grinding into sixth year and there is no clear view of it ending anytime soon. The war started in the year, 2011. Following the independence of Syria in 1964, years of instability built up in the Ba'ath Party's coup d'état of 1964. In 1970, the minister of defense, General Hafez al-Assad seized power and declared himself president. He then favored his community, Alawite, by giving them control over the military. Soon after his death, his son, Bashar al-Assad took over. This then bred discontent among the Sunnis majority because they were considered secondary to the Alawite minority. This discontent led to the uprising of some groups against the Assad government. One of the groups to rise against the Assad government was the Muslim brotherhood which created a Sunni opposition from the beginning and giving scope for radical groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) to become forces to reckon with.
In March, 2011, Syrian protestors took to the streets to protest the torture of school children who had painted antigovernment graffiti in public spaces where security personnel responded brutally, killing and injuring most of the protestors. Other schools of thought believe that the protest was also against corruption of government officials. The war, which was, at first a rebellion against an oppressive government, the Assad government, has gradually been transformed into a sectarian war and a proxy war, too. Here, the war is between different ethnic groups or sects within the Syrian community, mainly between the Sunnis and the Shias and between the state of Russia and the United States of America respectively.
Also, religious differences have fueled the conflict and have enabled hardcore groups such as ISIS to become key players in this war and conflict. Aside these players, there are other prominent players such as Russia, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah assisting the Assad government and Saudi Arabia and Turkey supporting the opposing forces, with “non- lethal” assistance from the United States of America and the United Kingdom. These countries and forces taking sides have played a significant role in the diplomatic arena, where Russia and China block the United Nations Security Council resolutions to impose sanctions on the Syrian regime.
One may ask who is to blame for the Syrian conflict. According to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, both the regime and rebels are to be blamed for war crimes. Deadly military assaults by the government have included dropping barrel bombs and laying siege to rebel-held communities. There are international and non-international parties involved in this never-ending war. The international parties include the United States of America led coalition made up of seventy-seven (77) countries such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and Turkey acting unilaterally against the Syrian Kurds. Non-international parties involved also include the Islamic State, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
The Syrian war has been called a „proxy war‟. This is because the war is serving as grounds where the United States of America and Russia are fighting each other indirectly, showing off their military prowess at the expense of precious lives of Syrian citizens. There are many causes and effects of the Syrian war that every research brings up; countless consequences on the economic and social life of the country Syria.
This piece of writing seeks to analyze the causes and consequences of the Syrian war using the conflict tree. The causes of the Syrian war can be grouped into two using the conflict tree; these groups are the root causes and the remote causes. The root causes have to do with the objective dimension of conflict and the remote causes have to with subjective causes of conflict. One of the remote causes of the war is the discontentment that bred among the Sunni majority as a result of the rule of the Alawite minority.
After the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, Bashr al-Assad, his son, took over the political power of Syria. This happening created discontent among the majority which was the Sunnis. This is because with the reign of the Assads led to the treatment of the Sunnis second to the elite Alawite community, which the Sunnis despised so much because they were the majority and as such they were to be treated well than the Alawite minority. The discontent served as fertile grounds to rise against the ruling the government. As a result, the Sunnis used any opportunity they could lay their hands on to fight the ruling power of the Assads government.
Another remote cause of the Syrian war was and is bad governance. The rule of the Assads was and is considered oppressive by many schools of thought. Embezzlement and torturing of children among others characterized the Assad government. This caused some civilians to take matters into their own hand to free other civilians from this „oppressive‟ government. This led to uprisings such as protests and demonstrations in some parts of Syria which eventually led to the war been experienced now and the killings of thousands. Drought is also another remote cause of the Syrian war. In 2006, Syria experienced the worst form of drought due to global warming. Global warming destroyed most the farms that supplied food nationally to the civilians. This led to the starvation of many and eventually death in extreme cases. Eventually people began to complain and when their cries where unattended to by government, they begun to rise against the government as a means of making sure the government adhere to their cries.
Corruption is also another cause of the ongoing Syrian war. The Assad government was so corrupt to the extent that government officials used state funds to further their businesses and meet their selfish needs. This created some form of hatred among the civilians who were willing to do anything to see this „corrupt‟ government out of power and as such capitalized on any opportunity to kick the Assad government out of power.
Lack of political freedom among the Syrian populace. Under the Assad government, civilians were not allowed and not encouraged to air their views. Political freedom was prohibited and as such the government did what they deemed right for the people than listening to them and doing what they want. As such, the government pursued goals that did not meet the needs of the citizens and this led to dissatisfaction among citizens leading to uprising of some groups such the Muslim brotherhood to fight against this government. High unemployment is also considered as a cause of the Syrian. Most of the youth of Syria were primarily unemployed. To make matters worse, the cost of living was very high thus making it difficult for the jobless to keep up with the cost of living. As such, many young individuals engaged in social vices to obtain some income to care for themselves. These vices they engaged in coupled with other activities blossomed into a war, we are experiencing now, that seems to never end.
Another aspect of the causes the Syrian war is the root causes. These are causes that have an objective dimension to the Syrian war and in order for the war to end; one has to deal with the roots causes effectively. Sectarian divisions within the country of Syria are one of the root causes of the Syrian war. Syria is one of the countries with diverse ethnic and religious groups that contribute to its rich cultural nature but is also a force to reckon with in these times of crises and war. One of the frictions between the ethnic groups is between the Sunnis and Shi‟as that has populated this war.
As started earlier on, the war is mainly between the Assad government and the rebels which are torn between the Sunnis and the Shias, ethnically. On the side of the government, the Shi‟a populated states in Iran provides the government with military assistance and funds to acquire chemical weapons to aid their victory in the war but on the other hand the rebels are supported by the Sunnis who help the rebels fight against the Assad government. This uprising came about when the Alawite community, who are members of the Shi’a, committed some atrocities such as mass killings of some civilians at the early stages of the Syrian war. As such, the Sunnis who were grieved by these events done by the Shi‟as decided to take matters in their own hands by “punishing” the Sunnis through mass killings of their communities. This in the long run has erupted into the war we are experiencing now killing millions and destroying families.
Another root cause of the Syrian war is the reign of the Assads or the regime of the Assads. The reign of the Assads and the quest of Bashar al-Assad to reign forever like his father have led to some uprisings coupled with other things that has blossomed into a war of about eight years and still on going with no clear end in sight. After the death of his father, Bashar took over from where his father had left. This happening caused the Sunni majority of government to despise the decision of Bashar al-Assad. As such numerous attacks were conducted to remove him from office but till date, none of those attacks have succeeded. Until now, these attacks are still ongoing and thousands of lives are lost every week with no concrete result of the president Bashar al-Assad stepping down from power anytime soon.
Another root cause is the Muslim brotherhood known as the Arab Spring. It was a democratic uprising that started in the Middle East spreading from one Middle East country to the other. It finally acted in Syria when some school children painted some anti-graffito in public places as a way of alerting the public of a possible freedom from the “oppressive government” of the Assads. These school children were later arrested in the city of Daara where they were taken to Damascus for questioning and torture. After months of torturing, the residents of Daara protested against the harsh treatment meted on the children. A demonstration that started out peacefully ended up bloody after security personnel shot and killed four people at the spot. This ignited other cities and communities to join forces to demonstrate against the government‟s treatment towards the children. Notwithstanding, security personnel continued to be brutal against demonstrators, injuring and killing them. This caused the Arab spring and other key Muslim groups such as Al-Qaeda to come to play which in the long run erupted into the war the country of Syria is experiencing destructing the social economic system of Syria.
The Syrian and Israeli war is another root cause of the Syrian war. After the division of Palestine into Israel and Palestine, the Palestine began to hate the Jewish that formed the state of Israel. The Palestine decided to draw in their allies to fight off the Israelis and these allies included Syria, who became a force for the state of Israel to reckon with. This escalation between Syria and Israel worsened when they began fighting for authority over the Golan Heights. Given the causes of the Syrian war, one could now think of the severe consequences the causes of the Syrian war have caused to the nation as a whole and its individual citizens.
One of the consequences of the Syrian war was and is the mass displacement of Syrians. Due to the war, most Syrians have moved out of their home country to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Turkey. Research shown that ten thousands of civilians fled Kobana in late 2014 as Syrian Kurdish fighters and ISIS battled for control of the strategic town on the Turkish border. This has led to thousands of civilians spread across the Middle East seeking for shelter and safety leaving the geographical location of Syria deserted.
Another effect of the Syrian war is the economic downtown of Syria. Since the outbreak of the war, none of the socio-economic activities have been able to fully operate under the harsh conditions the war comes with. Some of these socio-economic include trading where imports and exports are involved. The country Syria is slacking on the world market due to its current struggles causing the country to lose millions of foreign revenue every year which could have aided in their economic and social development.
Sieges are also another effect of the Syrian war. The Syrian government lays sieges to communities under the control of terrorists and rebel-held communities, starving innocent civilians just because they find themselves under the rule of the wrong people. This is action of the government has led to the starvation of many and the death of many Syrians.
Aside the negative consequences, there are some positive outcomes. One of these positive outcomes is the boost in the economy of Lebanon. Being lead sellers in weapons in the Middle East, they are constantly producing and selling these weapons to the parties involved in the war, earning them more revenue than before thus boosting their economy like never before.
The Assads have been able to regain most of their territories from rebels and the opposition. Though the country is drowning in the crises of war, the government has been able to regain some of its lands from the hands of terrorists and opposition which is some form of good news for the people in support of the Assad regime.
One may ask will the war be ending anytime soon. The total lack of diplomatic consensus on how the war might end means that the proxy war is moving on into its sixth year with weapons continuing to flow to both sides from their respective backers and more lives are lost everyday with no clear cut solutions to end the war.
References
- Baltes, C. (2016). Causes and Consequences of the Syrian Civil War (Senior thesis). University of Carolina; Columbia.
- Ferris, E. and Kirisci, K. (2016). The Consequences of the Chaos: Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis and the Failure to Protect. Brookings Institution Press.
- Mariwala, A. (2014). The Syrian Civil war: Regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Stanford Model United Nations Conference.
- The War Report. (2018). The Syrian Armed Conflict: Nearing The End? University of Geneve: The Geneva Academy.
