Another national concern is the persistent drought which has devastated farming communities in north-eastern Syria. The ensuing crop failures and food insecurity affected more than a million people since 2008. Tens of thousands of impoverished farmer families were driven into urban slums and their anger at the lack of government help began to boil.
Conflict in Syria has had a negative impact on the under-performing state-run economy. This is not helped by Syria's rapidly growing young population. With struggling private firms, not to mention an unproductive public sector, the job market looks likely to collapse under the strain. Rebels are therefore fighting for a better economical future too.
Corruption is a huge national problem. Bribes are a part of Syrian life so those without money and good contacts fail to progress. Ironically, the system is so corrupt that anti-Assad rebels still buy weapons from the government forces.
An issue of national importance is the infamous mukhabarat. This is Syria's vast intelligence service which infiltrates society on every level. As a result, many Syrians simply accepted the regime due to fear of the state. However, the documentation on social media of the brutality of the security forces' response to peaceful protest in 2011 changed attitudes. The rebels are now fighting for freer state.
For the western world, it's difficult to know in which way they should help the rebels and whether they should even come to their aid at all. So far the US and Britain have pledged non-military aid to rebels. Also, after Britain and France proposed lifting an EU arms embargo on Syria, it wasn't renewed. This potentially frees EU countries to arm the rebels. However, after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan there's little support for a military intervention in the region.
Obama has warned that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line," but the US response to confirmed attacks earlier this year has so far been minimal. Even after allegations of a chemical weapons attack that killed over 300 people in the suburbs of Damascus, the president has remained cautious, wanting to look for international backing first. The problem for the US is that there are extreme jihadist groups amongst the rebels, some linked to al-Qaeda. So by supporting the rebels, they're essentially supporting the terrorists they've been fighting for over 10 years.
If definitive proof of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government emerges, there would probably be a more forceful reaction from the watching countries. Yet an intervention could destabilize the region further. The use of force would do harm to civilians and Assad would respond with even more brutality.
One of the biggest external players is Russia, making Syria's civil war an international issue. Russian businessmen have plenty to lose in Syria. As Syria’s manufacturing sector suffers under the weight of sanctions, the country depends on imports from Russia.
Russia consider this as one of the last places in the region where they can hold a presence. They're maybe looking for the stronger role in international relations that the former Soviet Union had. In particular, they want to retain access to a naval base in Syria’s port city of Tartous, Russia’s only navy outpost in the Mediterranean.
International influence in Syria is rife. Through Syria, Iran is able to transport weapons to Hezbollah, the political party in control of the most powerful militia in Lebanon. Should the Syrian regime collapse and be replaced by an anti-Iranian government, Iran might lose the support and influence of Syria, putting an end to weapons from Iran passing to Hezbollah.
President Assad is still fighting for control of his country in the wake of the Arab Spring. By watching the fall of the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes in early 2011, broadcast live on the satellite channel Al Jazeera, Syrians are now aware that change is possible - for the first time in decades.
by
pelican347 (student)
