Remove Ad, Sign Up
Register to Remove Ad
Register to Remove Ad
Remove Ad, Sign Up
Register to Remove Ad
Register to Remove Ad
Signup for Free!
-More Features-
-Far Less Ads-
About   Users   Help
Users & Guests Online
On Page: 1
Directory: 138
Entire Site: 4 & 933
Page Staff: pennylessz, pokemon x, Barathemos, tgags123, alexanyways, RavusRat,
03-28-24 06:59 AM

Forum Links

International Relations 101: A Crash Course in the Syrian Crisis
Ft Several Western and Middle Eastern states, ISIS/Al Qaeda, The Kurds and more!
Related Threads
Coming Soon

Thread Information

Views
794
Replies
2
Rating
4
Status
CLOSED
Thread
Creator
Zlinqx
03-02-17 08:46 PM
Last
Post
Zlinqx
03-04-17 08:59 PM
Additional Thread Details
Views: 430
Today: 0
Users: 19 unique

Thread Actions

Thread Closed
New Thread
New Poll
Order
 

International Relations 101: A Crash Course in the Syrian Crisis

 

03-02-17 08:46 PM
Zlinqx is Offline
| ID: 1331537 | 2984 Words

Zlinqx
Zlinqx
Level: 121


POSTS: 4026/4673
POST EXP: 657361
LVL EXP: 19955330
CP: 52722.7
VIZ: 617684

Likes: 4  Dislikes: 0
International Relations 101: A Crash Course in the Syrian Crisis

We are living in a chaotic time, islamist terrorists are committing acts of terror in several countries, there is a huge war with several different actors involved going on in and around Syria. The debate on muslim extremism rages on in the west as countries are left dealing with the war refugees. To refer to the situation as confusing may perhaps be putting it mildly. In an effort to increase public understanding of this very complex issue and perhaps even spark some interest to learn more, this article will attempt to provide more of an overview of the conflict. What exactly is Conflict in Syria about? Who is involved and why are they involved?

The Wars within a War


Starting from the very basics we must delve into the war in Syria and what it is about. The first thing that would be important to realize is that it is actually a combination of several different big conflicts that were all started on different grounds, these are:

1. The Syrian Civil War
2. The Religious War
3. The Proxy War
4. The Ethnic War

The following image should serve as an aid to remember the relationship between the different actors:

Source: The Atlantic

(Note that this does not take into account The Ethnic War due to it not being directly part of the Civil War, more on that later).

While a lot could be said of all the different conflicts, the focus is on giving you more of an overview and doing so in a hopefully easy to understand manner. I'm going to delve into each of the different conflicts giving some background on what it is about and who the main actors are on each side. Keep in mind that nearly all of the actors are involved in every conflict as these all connect, which means I may repeat things previously stated as I go a bit more in depth with certain actors. By the end of reading this however, you should hopefully have a better understanding of the conflict.

1. The Syrian Civil War

This is the basis of the crisis in Syria and what initiated the entire conflict. Syria is ruled by a regime headed by Bashar al Assad. The country is a dictatorship that has been ruled by the Assad family since the 1970s through a so called one party system meaning there is only a single party to vote for in elections, the Ba'ath Party. The country has during this time broken several human rights, oppressed minorities and given preferential treatment to those in power. After a long period of brutal oppression several groups have risen up that want to end his regime and implement a democracy in the country. People protested calling for the regime's removal during the Arab Spring of 2011 and the regime responded with violent suppression. This lead to the escalation into armed conflict.

The Main Sides and Actors are:

1a. The Pro Regime Side

The Assad Regime's goal is to simply stay in power as they have done for several decades and in doing so effectively crushing the rebellion. Their primary means to achieve this has been through their military. The regime has access to the country's military forces. Additionally they have many powerful allies supporting them (which we will get more into when talking about the other conflicts) including Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

1b. The Pro Rebellion Side

This includes several different parties that want to overthrow the government. The main one is the Free Syrian Army, an alliance between several independent militant organizations originally started by defectors from the Syrian Army. Their overarching goal that unites them, is to establish a democracy in Syria. This army also has several powerful allies which includes aid from the western coalition lead by the US. Other allies are Turkey, and certain gulf states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Syrian Free Army is also backed by another actor, The Syrian National Coalition. This is a non military actor that is essentially a government meant to make the transition to democracy possible. In simpler terms you could think of the SNC and the FSA combined as a state without a territory to control. They have all the workings of a government and an army to fight for them. Additionally they are backed and recognized by several countries as the proper Syrian government.

Another Pro Rebellion force is The Islamic Front, which is not to be confused with the Islamic State (which we will delve more into later). This is an alliance of several islamist groups with somewhat differing goals but where the overarching idea is that they want to establish an islamist state in Syria based on sharia law.To quote the leader of the alliance "where god's merciful law is sovereign and the individuals of this state enjoys justice and a dignified life". Originally they acted more as a third party that shifted between fighting the rebel army, IS and regime forces but has since gravitated more towards an alliance with the Free Syrian Army. Their main backers are Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Now that we've established the basic context of the conflict, let's get into the religious component of the war:

2. The Religious War

Before getting into how this affects the conflict one needs to know some of the history surrounding the middle east. There has long been tension and conflict between the Sunni and Shi'ite (Shia) denominations of Islam. You can think of it as somewhat similar to the war between Protestants and Catholics that occurred in Europe in the past except this is in modern day. While there are several different schools within each denomination the main historical difference that separates them is disagreeing on who should be the Prophet Muhammed's successor. Sunni Muslims (making up the majority in the Middle East) believed the successor should be Mohammed's friend and father of his wife Abu Bakr. The Shia Muslims on the other hand believed that the successor should be related by blood to Muhammed.

While Sunni muslims make up a majority in the Middle East as a whole (about 85-90%), they are outnumbered by Shia in certain countries, the main ones being Iran and Iraq and have sizeable populations in others. Assad and his government are Sunni muslims and have a history of giving preferential treatment to other Sunni muslims in the country. So naturally this has helped further reignite the existing tension that exists between the two groups. This is further helped by the current two big powers in the Middle East (Iran and Saudi Arabia) being Shia and Sunni controlled respectively and backing opposite sides of the conflict. Both of these countries want to dominate the region and in doing so allow for the domination of their particular denomination. There is also the element of IS and other global terrorist groups which are sunni extremists that have goals that differ to the rest of the Sunni side.

So this leads into the main sides and actors in the religious conflict:

2a. The Pro Shia Side

This consists of the Assad Regime including Assad himself which are Shia Muslims, specifically they adhere to the Alawite school of Islam. Their main goal right now is to simply retain power as touched upon earlier but in the process they also support a continually Shia controlled Syria. The one primarily driving this is Iran, which is the big shia superpower in the Middle East. They have been aiding the government both financially and militarily.

Another major ally to the Shia side and subsequently the Assad Government is Hezbollah. To give some brief background on what exactly Hezbollah is, it's a shia political party, whose political wing is based in Lebanon which you might have heard about from their conflict and resistance to Israel. They also have a social wing dedicated to charity, providing housing for orphans in the country among other things. Of most interest to this conflict however is their military wing. It is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries due to their interference in other countries. They are supporting the Assad Government not just support the Shia side but also for their own survival as Iran and Syria are countries who have financially supported them in the past. The Assad government being overthrown could greatly diminish their capabilities.

2b. The Pro Sunni Side

The pro sunni side is headed by the other major superpower in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, which is Sunni controlled and dominated by Sunni Muslims. They want a sunni dominated Middle East. They back the rebellion and specifically are funding The Islamic Front who want to establish a sunni islamist state. The Free Syrian Army does not fit in here as they're for the establishment of a democratic SECULAR government, however one could argue this would benefit the sunni side as they make up the majority in Syria and thus would likely get into power through a democratic election.

2c. Extremist Sunni Terror Groups

Terror groups like the IS and Al Qaeda fit in here. The history of how IS came to be is an interesting one. They were originally tied to Al Qaeda but due to disagreements that developed IS would cut ties with Al Qaeda. The key difference separating IS from a gropu like Al Nusra is that they are attempting to establish a global caliphate, meaning they do not plan on stopping should they succeed in taking over Syria. They consider their leader to be a descendent of Muhammed and want to create an all encompassing sunni islamist state, which you are either considered with or against, there is no middle ground. Their main resources in doing so is their military forces which consists of members from all over the world that are highly dedicated to their cause. They also have economic assets through oil from areas they have conquered and selling it on the black market. In the past they were supported by Saudi Arabia however that has changed meaning they currently lack any major known allies.

The other major terrorist organisation in the conflict is Al Nusra which is still linked to Al Qaeda. This is the branch that was established in Syria. Their goal is to overthrow Bashar Al Assad and establish a calíphate that is under sharia law in Syria specifically. Their main source of financing is through spoils of war, but they have also established quite a wide network with other local terrorist organisations, made possible by their more restricted ambition. For this reason many believe they could eventually become a bigger threat than the IS.

Now it is time to delve into the proxy wars and the involvement of the US and Russia in the conflict:

3. The Proxy War

So just what is a Proxy War? A Proxy War is an indirect war fought between two or more states or non state actors without them getting militarily involved. This is done through supporting opposite actors in an existing conflict. This is what the US and Russia has been doing in the Middle East by Russia supporting the regime side and the US supporting the rebellion. Someone who has been observant may remark on the fact that both nations have had some limited military involvement in the form of airstrikes, however the main involvement has been through backing other parties. None of these strikes have been directly on US or Russian forces.

The main actors are:

3a. Russia

Their main goal in the conflict is to preserve the existing strong ties that they have had with Syria, specifically the Assad Regime. They have allowed Russia to establish a military base in the region which is the only military base they possess in the Middle East. In doing this it will also deny the US influence in the region and strengthen its influence in world politics which has weakened since the end of the cold war particularly through Russian resistance within intergovernmental organizations like NATO and the EU. Like the US they also want to eradicate IS. Their military involvement has been greater than that of the US having performed many more air strikes.

3b. US

The US leads a western coalition against ISIS in Syria and their main goal is a bit less concrete than that of Russia. Their overarching motivation behind supporting the rebellion is that it would hopefully lead to a more US and west friendly government being established. Thus it would increase US influence in the region which has been under threat for the past few years. They are naturally backed through the coalition by various western countries who want to deny Russia more influence.

3c. A Middle Eastern Cold War: Iran vs Saudi Arabia

Incidentally there is also a proxy war being fought by Saudi Arabia and Iran (supported by Hezbollah) which are engaged in a power struggle in the region not wholly unlike the cold war. Their involvement is therefore not only based on religious grounds. Both countries want to become the dominant power and thereby the leader of the Middle East and this conflict is a way of increasing their influence in the region. One could argue this includes Hezbollah as much of their involvement has also been through economic support. Saudi Arabia and Iran are also supporting the US and Russia respectively to promote stronger ties between the countries.

Lastly we have the final conflict, which has been going on since long before the Syrian crisis...

4. The Ethnic War

The Ethnic War is not strictly part of the conflict and when looking at the different actors, the focus will probably be placed on the first three parts, however it does add another layer of involvement that makes the situation even more complex. This involves The Kurds which is an ethnic group that lacks a country of their own. They have spent decades fighting to establish a nation of their own. This "nation" would cover parts of 4 main states (Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey) and is referred to as Kurdistan. This geographical area is predominantly inhabited by Kurds but understandably the countries who now claim these territories are not keen to give it up.

Enter the Syrian War. Syria being preoccupied fighting both a civil and religious war has presented various Kurdish groups with an opportunity to reshape the borders. By taking over part of Syria this could in combination with a new democratic government allow them to establish their own recognized state.

The main actors are therefore:

4a. Kurdish Militant Groups

These are militant groups consisting of the Kurdish ethnic group with the ultimate goal of establishing a state of their own. This would help them escape persecution in many of the countries they currently live in. With Kurdish politicians gaining influence in Iraq since the end of the Iraq invasion to the point of having gained a degree of autonomy with country, being able to reach that goal looks increasingly likely. Their main resources are their military forces which has significant combat experience from fighting this conflict for decades. They are also receiving financial and military aid from certain western countries. Notably the US have supported Kurdish forces but it is seemingly restricted so to not destabilize the government in other countries (which could damage US foreign relations).

4b. Turkey (and various other countries)

This is the primary reason Turkey eventually got involved in the conflict. While Turkey is also supporting the rebel side in the civil war and President Erdogan has been a staunch critic of the Syrian regime, the toppling of the regime is their secondary goal. They want to halt the advance of Kurdish groups, in particular those trying to take territory along the Turkish border (associated with the formerly mentioned Kurdistan). While far from the only country that are against the Kurdish advance they have been the most vocal opposition. They have allies both in the region and Europe and are part of NATO and have had military involvement in the form of airstrikes. 

In Conclusion

The Syrian Crisis is a very complex conflict and some information has been omitted or simplified in order to ease understanding. However this should hopefully give you a good basic grip of the conflict apart from just the element of IS involvement. I would recommend doing further reading on your own if you are interested, so to allow you to build your own perspective.

Originally I intended on writing a portion about the future of the conflict, including potential scenarios, predictions and solutions. If you would like me to write an article on this in the future do tell me.

Sources

Since I am used to the Oxford reference system and I have no idea how to place footnotes through the vizzed post editor I'm just going to list various sources for statements I made here.

http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/tp/Arab-Spring-Uprisings.htm
About the arab spring and the events leading up to the conflict.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23849587
Talks about the major states involved and their allegiance in the conflict.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25434060
Basic statistics on Shia and Sunni muslims.

http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-religious-component-of-the-syrian-conflict-more-than-perception-by-nicole-bibbins-sedaca/
Talks about the role of religion in the conflict and the impact it has had.

http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/54233?lang=en
About the Islamic front and  its shifting alignment in the conflict. It's also where the quote I used is taken from.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895?page=3
A more extensive history of the origins of ISIS and its split from the rest of Al Qaeda. Also helps with understanding the mindset and motivations of the organisation better.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/10/middleeast/russia-navy-base-tartus-syria/index.html
About the base Russia established in Tartus, Syria. I know some of you are skeptical about CNN but I can assure you this does not have any mentions of Trump

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/02/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-recuses-himself-from-investigation-into-russian-hacks.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/13/mapped-russian-vs-u-s-airstrikes-in-syria/?utm_term=.c915adefd662
About Russian military involvement in comparison to US military involvement.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11769463/What-does-Turkeys-involvement-in-air-strikes-mean-for-Kurds-Isil-Syria-and-Nato.html
About Kurdish and Turkish involvement in the conflict.

International Relations 101: A Crash Course in the Syrian Crisis

We are living in a chaotic time, islamist terrorists are committing acts of terror in several countries, there is a huge war with several different actors involved going on in and around Syria. The debate on muslim extremism rages on in the west as countries are left dealing with the war refugees. To refer to the situation as confusing may perhaps be putting it mildly. In an effort to increase public understanding of this very complex issue and perhaps even spark some interest to learn more, this article will attempt to provide more of an overview of the conflict. What exactly is Conflict in Syria about? Who is involved and why are they involved?

The Wars within a War


Starting from the very basics we must delve into the war in Syria and what it is about. The first thing that would be important to realize is that it is actually a combination of several different big conflicts that were all started on different grounds, these are:

1. The Syrian Civil War
2. The Religious War
3. The Proxy War
4. The Ethnic War

The following image should serve as an aid to remember the relationship between the different actors:

Source: The Atlantic

(Note that this does not take into account The Ethnic War due to it not being directly part of the Civil War, more on that later).

While a lot could be said of all the different conflicts, the focus is on giving you more of an overview and doing so in a hopefully easy to understand manner. I'm going to delve into each of the different conflicts giving some background on what it is about and who the main actors are on each side. Keep in mind that nearly all of the actors are involved in every conflict as these all connect, which means I may repeat things previously stated as I go a bit more in depth with certain actors. By the end of reading this however, you should hopefully have a better understanding of the conflict.

1. The Syrian Civil War

This is the basis of the crisis in Syria and what initiated the entire conflict. Syria is ruled by a regime headed by Bashar al Assad. The country is a dictatorship that has been ruled by the Assad family since the 1970s through a so called one party system meaning there is only a single party to vote for in elections, the Ba'ath Party. The country has during this time broken several human rights, oppressed minorities and given preferential treatment to those in power. After a long period of brutal oppression several groups have risen up that want to end his regime and implement a democracy in the country. People protested calling for the regime's removal during the Arab Spring of 2011 and the regime responded with violent suppression. This lead to the escalation into armed conflict.

The Main Sides and Actors are:

1a. The Pro Regime Side

The Assad Regime's goal is to simply stay in power as they have done for several decades and in doing so effectively crushing the rebellion. Their primary means to achieve this has been through their military. The regime has access to the country's military forces. Additionally they have many powerful allies supporting them (which we will get more into when talking about the other conflicts) including Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

1b. The Pro Rebellion Side

This includes several different parties that want to overthrow the government. The main one is the Free Syrian Army, an alliance between several independent militant organizations originally started by defectors from the Syrian Army. Their overarching goal that unites them, is to establish a democracy in Syria. This army also has several powerful allies which includes aid from the western coalition lead by the US. Other allies are Turkey, and certain gulf states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Syrian Free Army is also backed by another actor, The Syrian National Coalition. This is a non military actor that is essentially a government meant to make the transition to democracy possible. In simpler terms you could think of the SNC and the FSA combined as a state without a territory to control. They have all the workings of a government and an army to fight for them. Additionally they are backed and recognized by several countries as the proper Syrian government.

Another Pro Rebellion force is The Islamic Front, which is not to be confused with the Islamic State (which we will delve more into later). This is an alliance of several islamist groups with somewhat differing goals but where the overarching idea is that they want to establish an islamist state in Syria based on sharia law.To quote the leader of the alliance "where god's merciful law is sovereign and the individuals of this state enjoys justice and a dignified life". Originally they acted more as a third party that shifted between fighting the rebel army, IS and regime forces but has since gravitated more towards an alliance with the Free Syrian Army. Their main backers are Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Now that we've established the basic context of the conflict, let's get into the religious component of the war:

2. The Religious War

Before getting into how this affects the conflict one needs to know some of the history surrounding the middle east. There has long been tension and conflict between the Sunni and Shi'ite (Shia) denominations of Islam. You can think of it as somewhat similar to the war between Protestants and Catholics that occurred in Europe in the past except this is in modern day. While there are several different schools within each denomination the main historical difference that separates them is disagreeing on who should be the Prophet Muhammed's successor. Sunni Muslims (making up the majority in the Middle East) believed the successor should be Mohammed's friend and father of his wife Abu Bakr. The Shia Muslims on the other hand believed that the successor should be related by blood to Muhammed.

While Sunni muslims make up a majority in the Middle East as a whole (about 85-90%), they are outnumbered by Shia in certain countries, the main ones being Iran and Iraq and have sizeable populations in others. Assad and his government are Sunni muslims and have a history of giving preferential treatment to other Sunni muslims in the country. So naturally this has helped further reignite the existing tension that exists between the two groups. This is further helped by the current two big powers in the Middle East (Iran and Saudi Arabia) being Shia and Sunni controlled respectively and backing opposite sides of the conflict. Both of these countries want to dominate the region and in doing so allow for the domination of their particular denomination. There is also the element of IS and other global terrorist groups which are sunni extremists that have goals that differ to the rest of the Sunni side.

So this leads into the main sides and actors in the religious conflict:

2a. The Pro Shia Side

This consists of the Assad Regime including Assad himself which are Shia Muslims, specifically they adhere to the Alawite school of Islam. Their main goal right now is to simply retain power as touched upon earlier but in the process they also support a continually Shia controlled Syria. The one primarily driving this is Iran, which is the big shia superpower in the Middle East. They have been aiding the government both financially and militarily.

Another major ally to the Shia side and subsequently the Assad Government is Hezbollah. To give some brief background on what exactly Hezbollah is, it's a shia political party, whose political wing is based in Lebanon which you might have heard about from their conflict and resistance to Israel. They also have a social wing dedicated to charity, providing housing for orphans in the country among other things. Of most interest to this conflict however is their military wing. It is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries due to their interference in other countries. They are supporting the Assad Government not just support the Shia side but also for their own survival as Iran and Syria are countries who have financially supported them in the past. The Assad government being overthrown could greatly diminish their capabilities.

2b. The Pro Sunni Side

The pro sunni side is headed by the other major superpower in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, which is Sunni controlled and dominated by Sunni Muslims. They want a sunni dominated Middle East. They back the rebellion and specifically are funding The Islamic Front who want to establish a sunni islamist state. The Free Syrian Army does not fit in here as they're for the establishment of a democratic SECULAR government, however one could argue this would benefit the sunni side as they make up the majority in Syria and thus would likely get into power through a democratic election.

2c. Extremist Sunni Terror Groups

Terror groups like the IS and Al Qaeda fit in here. The history of how IS came to be is an interesting one. They were originally tied to Al Qaeda but due to disagreements that developed IS would cut ties with Al Qaeda. The key difference separating IS from a gropu like Al Nusra is that they are attempting to establish a global caliphate, meaning they do not plan on stopping should they succeed in taking over Syria. They consider their leader to be a descendent of Muhammed and want to create an all encompassing sunni islamist state, which you are either considered with or against, there is no middle ground. Their main resources in doing so is their military forces which consists of members from all over the world that are highly dedicated to their cause. They also have economic assets through oil from areas they have conquered and selling it on the black market. In the past they were supported by Saudi Arabia however that has changed meaning they currently lack any major known allies.

The other major terrorist organisation in the conflict is Al Nusra which is still linked to Al Qaeda. This is the branch that was established in Syria. Their goal is to overthrow Bashar Al Assad and establish a calíphate that is under sharia law in Syria specifically. Their main source of financing is through spoils of war, but they have also established quite a wide network with other local terrorist organisations, made possible by their more restricted ambition. For this reason many believe they could eventually become a bigger threat than the IS.

Now it is time to delve into the proxy wars and the involvement of the US and Russia in the conflict:

3. The Proxy War

So just what is a Proxy War? A Proxy War is an indirect war fought between two or more states or non state actors without them getting militarily involved. This is done through supporting opposite actors in an existing conflict. This is what the US and Russia has been doing in the Middle East by Russia supporting the regime side and the US supporting the rebellion. Someone who has been observant may remark on the fact that both nations have had some limited military involvement in the form of airstrikes, however the main involvement has been through backing other parties. None of these strikes have been directly on US or Russian forces.

The main actors are:

3a. Russia

Their main goal in the conflict is to preserve the existing strong ties that they have had with Syria, specifically the Assad Regime. They have allowed Russia to establish a military base in the region which is the only military base they possess in the Middle East. In doing this it will also deny the US influence in the region and strengthen its influence in world politics which has weakened since the end of the cold war particularly through Russian resistance within intergovernmental organizations like NATO and the EU. Like the US they also want to eradicate IS. Their military involvement has been greater than that of the US having performed many more air strikes.

3b. US

The US leads a western coalition against ISIS in Syria and their main goal is a bit less concrete than that of Russia. Their overarching motivation behind supporting the rebellion is that it would hopefully lead to a more US and west friendly government being established. Thus it would increase US influence in the region which has been under threat for the past few years. They are naturally backed through the coalition by various western countries who want to deny Russia more influence.

3c. A Middle Eastern Cold War: Iran vs Saudi Arabia

Incidentally there is also a proxy war being fought by Saudi Arabia and Iran (supported by Hezbollah) which are engaged in a power struggle in the region not wholly unlike the cold war. Their involvement is therefore not only based on religious grounds. Both countries want to become the dominant power and thereby the leader of the Middle East and this conflict is a way of increasing their influence in the region. One could argue this includes Hezbollah as much of their involvement has also been through economic support. Saudi Arabia and Iran are also supporting the US and Russia respectively to promote stronger ties between the countries.

Lastly we have the final conflict, which has been going on since long before the Syrian crisis...

4. The Ethnic War

The Ethnic War is not strictly part of the conflict and when looking at the different actors, the focus will probably be placed on the first three parts, however it does add another layer of involvement that makes the situation even more complex. This involves The Kurds which is an ethnic group that lacks a country of their own. They have spent decades fighting to establish a nation of their own. This "nation" would cover parts of 4 main states (Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey) and is referred to as Kurdistan. This geographical area is predominantly inhabited by Kurds but understandably the countries who now claim these territories are not keen to give it up.

Enter the Syrian War. Syria being preoccupied fighting both a civil and religious war has presented various Kurdish groups with an opportunity to reshape the borders. By taking over part of Syria this could in combination with a new democratic government allow them to establish their own recognized state.

The main actors are therefore:

4a. Kurdish Militant Groups

These are militant groups consisting of the Kurdish ethnic group with the ultimate goal of establishing a state of their own. This would help them escape persecution in many of the countries they currently live in. With Kurdish politicians gaining influence in Iraq since the end of the Iraq invasion to the point of having gained a degree of autonomy with country, being able to reach that goal looks increasingly likely. Their main resources are their military forces which has significant combat experience from fighting this conflict for decades. They are also receiving financial and military aid from certain western countries. Notably the US have supported Kurdish forces but it is seemingly restricted so to not destabilize the government in other countries (which could damage US foreign relations).

4b. Turkey (and various other countries)

This is the primary reason Turkey eventually got involved in the conflict. While Turkey is also supporting the rebel side in the civil war and President Erdogan has been a staunch critic of the Syrian regime, the toppling of the regime is their secondary goal. They want to halt the advance of Kurdish groups, in particular those trying to take territory along the Turkish border (associated with the formerly mentioned Kurdistan). While far from the only country that are against the Kurdish advance they have been the most vocal opposition. They have allies both in the region and Europe and are part of NATO and have had military involvement in the form of airstrikes. 

In Conclusion

The Syrian Crisis is a very complex conflict and some information has been omitted or simplified in order to ease understanding. However this should hopefully give you a good basic grip of the conflict apart from just the element of IS involvement. I would recommend doing further reading on your own if you are interested, so to allow you to build your own perspective.

Originally I intended on writing a portion about the future of the conflict, including potential scenarios, predictions and solutions. If you would like me to write an article on this in the future do tell me.

Sources

Since I am used to the Oxford reference system and I have no idea how to place footnotes through the vizzed post editor I'm just going to list various sources for statements I made here.

http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/tp/Arab-Spring-Uprisings.htm
About the arab spring and the events leading up to the conflict.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23849587
Talks about the major states involved and their allegiance in the conflict.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25434060
Basic statistics on Shia and Sunni muslims.

http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-religious-component-of-the-syrian-conflict-more-than-perception-by-nicole-bibbins-sedaca/
Talks about the role of religion in the conflict and the impact it has had.

http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/54233?lang=en
About the Islamic front and  its shifting alignment in the conflict. It's also where the quote I used is taken from.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895?page=3
A more extensive history of the origins of ISIS and its split from the rest of Al Qaeda. Also helps with understanding the mindset and motivations of the organisation better.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/10/middleeast/russia-navy-base-tartus-syria/index.html
About the base Russia established in Tartus, Syria. I know some of you are skeptical about CNN but I can assure you this does not have any mentions of Trump

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/02/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-recuses-himself-from-investigation-into-russian-hacks.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/13/mapped-russian-vs-u-s-airstrikes-in-syria/?utm_term=.c915adefd662
About Russian military involvement in comparison to US military involvement.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11769463/What-does-Turkeys-involvement-in-air-strikes-mean-for-Kurds-Isil-Syria-and-Nato.html
About Kurdish and Turkish involvement in the conflict.

Vizzed Elite

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 07-21-13
Last Post: 136 days
Last Active: 1 day

(edited by Zlinqx on 03-04-17 05:00 PM)     Post Rating: 4   Liked By: Baritron, Spicy, Uzar, Yuna1000,

03-04-17 08:13 PM
tornadocam is Offline
| ID: 1331667 | 418 Words

tornadocam
Level: 103


POSTS: 2133/3122
POST EXP: 781784
LVL EXP: 11358372
CP: 61424.1
VIZ: 4876874

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0
Great coverage and history of this conflict. 

I would like to add some things 

First of all, the US is involved as we tend to meddle in other countries affairs you would think we would learn by now as that has not gone well. In 2013 then President Obama said "Assad must go" So we armed the Syrian Rebels and some of them defected to Isis. Many have criticized the US for this. 

Second, The Kurds after WW II where promised a country of their own. As you pointed out it was supposed to cover parts of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. That promise never ever happened. So the Kurds have been fighting since. 

Israel and Jordan are highly concerned about all the things you mentioned for various reasons. Israel is concerned that Iran and others will launch an attack on them. Iran has called for the destruction of Israel. Jordan is really the only majority Islam country that is a democracy. They are concerned that what is going on in Syria and Iraq will spread into their country. They are also concerned that Iran might try to start rebellions in their country. The kingdom of Jordan does not really like Iran. 

Israel and Jordan are in a tough spot. If Isis wins in Syria. Then Israel will be surrounded by another terrorist run state. They have Hamas to the south, and Hezbollah to the North. Jordan would also boarder a Terrorist state. That is bad for obvious reasons. On the other hand If Iran side wins the war in Syria. It would strengthen Iran and make them a stronger player. Iran also has the ability to develop Nukes. That could be bad because Israel and Jordan would be boarded by a pro Iran government. Iran could set up nuke launch sites in Syria. 

However, I'm an American and I believe the US has made a mess out of things. Our actions have pro longed the war, we have armed rebel groups who are just as bad as the bad guys. We have also bombed Syria for what reason? We have meddled in that regions governments. Remember the Arab Uprising. We supported the Egyptian Rebellion and watched as the Islamic Brotherhood took power for a while. We bombed Libya and made that country a civil war torn country. We have bombed Yemen they are in a civil war. In addition when we invaded Iraq, We made Iraq a war torn country and our actions have helped one country Iran. 
Great coverage and history of this conflict. 

I would like to add some things 

First of all, the US is involved as we tend to meddle in other countries affairs you would think we would learn by now as that has not gone well. In 2013 then President Obama said "Assad must go" So we armed the Syrian Rebels and some of them defected to Isis. Many have criticized the US for this. 

Second, The Kurds after WW II where promised a country of their own. As you pointed out it was supposed to cover parts of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. That promise never ever happened. So the Kurds have been fighting since. 

Israel and Jordan are highly concerned about all the things you mentioned for various reasons. Israel is concerned that Iran and others will launch an attack on them. Iran has called for the destruction of Israel. Jordan is really the only majority Islam country that is a democracy. They are concerned that what is going on in Syria and Iraq will spread into their country. They are also concerned that Iran might try to start rebellions in their country. The kingdom of Jordan does not really like Iran. 

Israel and Jordan are in a tough spot. If Isis wins in Syria. Then Israel will be surrounded by another terrorist run state. They have Hamas to the south, and Hezbollah to the North. Jordan would also boarder a Terrorist state. That is bad for obvious reasons. On the other hand If Iran side wins the war in Syria. It would strengthen Iran and make them a stronger player. Iran also has the ability to develop Nukes. That could be bad because Israel and Jordan would be boarded by a pro Iran government. Iran could set up nuke launch sites in Syria. 

However, I'm an American and I believe the US has made a mess out of things. Our actions have pro longed the war, we have armed rebel groups who are just as bad as the bad guys. We have also bombed Syria for what reason? We have meddled in that regions governments. Remember the Arab Uprising. We supported the Egyptian Rebellion and watched as the Islamic Brotherhood took power for a while. We bombed Libya and made that country a civil war torn country. We have bombed Yemen they are in a civil war. In addition when we invaded Iraq, We made Iraq a war torn country and our actions have helped one country Iran. 
Vizzed Elite

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 08-18-12
Last Post: 53 days
Last Active: 12 hours

03-04-17 08:59 PM
Zlinqx is Offline
| ID: 1331673 | 596 Words

Zlinqx
Zlinqx
Level: 121


POSTS: 4029/4673
POST EXP: 657361
LVL EXP: 19955330
CP: 52722.7
VIZ: 617684

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0
tornadocam : A lot can be argued about when it comes to the actions of the US. Similarly to any other state they've mostly acted based on what is benefitial to them. The Iraq Invasion was performed on the grounds that Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to the west because they possessed a weapon of mass destruction and would supply that to terror groups like Al Qaeda. In reality no WMD was found after the invasion nor was there any proof one leading up to it. The Bush administration then tried to spin it as an intervention on the basis of human rights but targeting Iraq specifically makes no sense considering there are far more countries, some likely worse offenders.

If you look at the history of Iraq-US relations one will also notice that they several times went out of their way to try and maintain good relations with the government at the expense of the people. Like the shift from supporting Kurdish rebels in Iraq to trying to maintain good relations with the Sadam Hussein regime (before their war on Kuwait). Going as far back as the early cold war they supported the monarchy and helped suppress any political opponents in the country if it meant that they could maintain friendly relations and keep communism out. Ironically that's in large part what drove the hate of the west and the US within nationalist movements and increased the popularity of communism. The whole invasion was mostly about oil and keeping them from meddling in US affairs with other middle eastern countries. The threat of oil prices rising due to Saddam "not sharing" and there being some sort of energy crisis. Incidentally oil was also the reason Kurds were denied their own country after WW1 as the brits discovered large oil reserves. The US has only supported freedom and democracy when it works in tandem with their other goals.  What I think that makes clear is that there is no pure good or bad side, but differing perspectives.

ISIS is fighting a losing battle as they no longer have any major allies like Saudi Arabia which they need to keep the momentum up. ISIS has been more successful in scaring people than anything through committing acts of terror in western countries. They got regular people in western countries like the US, UK, France, Germany etc to actually notice and pay some sort of attention to the conflict. On the other hand if they are eventually defeated it may give rise to a new conflict between The Islamic Front and The Free Syrian Army due to their different goals which could be more problematic.

All it would take is one situation involving Israel to drag them into the conflict and that could really escalate the war. That is a concern, but at the same time I think most of the current actors would want to avoid that as having to fight Israel simultaneously with other enemies could really hurt their chances of success. I think it is important to point out though that Israel has been far from moral at times. The airstrikes of Lebanon that supposedly targeted Hezbollah, killing tons of civilians. Not to mention how they've been handling the whole conflict with Palestine (even if Hamas hasn't always been much better) also resulting in the death of tons of civilians, refusing to try and reach a compromise since they've got US support on their side who has vetoed every resolution in the UN to try and force them to reach some sort of middle ground.
tornadocam : A lot can be argued about when it comes to the actions of the US. Similarly to any other state they've mostly acted based on what is benefitial to them. The Iraq Invasion was performed on the grounds that Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to the west because they possessed a weapon of mass destruction and would supply that to terror groups like Al Qaeda. In reality no WMD was found after the invasion nor was there any proof one leading up to it. The Bush administration then tried to spin it as an intervention on the basis of human rights but targeting Iraq specifically makes no sense considering there are far more countries, some likely worse offenders.

If you look at the history of Iraq-US relations one will also notice that they several times went out of their way to try and maintain good relations with the government at the expense of the people. Like the shift from supporting Kurdish rebels in Iraq to trying to maintain good relations with the Sadam Hussein regime (before their war on Kuwait). Going as far back as the early cold war they supported the monarchy and helped suppress any political opponents in the country if it meant that they could maintain friendly relations and keep communism out. Ironically that's in large part what drove the hate of the west and the US within nationalist movements and increased the popularity of communism. The whole invasion was mostly about oil and keeping them from meddling in US affairs with other middle eastern countries. The threat of oil prices rising due to Saddam "not sharing" and there being some sort of energy crisis. Incidentally oil was also the reason Kurds were denied their own country after WW1 as the brits discovered large oil reserves. The US has only supported freedom and democracy when it works in tandem with their other goals.  What I think that makes clear is that there is no pure good or bad side, but differing perspectives.

ISIS is fighting a losing battle as they no longer have any major allies like Saudi Arabia which they need to keep the momentum up. ISIS has been more successful in scaring people than anything through committing acts of terror in western countries. They got regular people in western countries like the US, UK, France, Germany etc to actually notice and pay some sort of attention to the conflict. On the other hand if they are eventually defeated it may give rise to a new conflict between The Islamic Front and The Free Syrian Army due to their different goals which could be more problematic.

All it would take is one situation involving Israel to drag them into the conflict and that could really escalate the war. That is a concern, but at the same time I think most of the current actors would want to avoid that as having to fight Israel simultaneously with other enemies could really hurt their chances of success. I think it is important to point out though that Israel has been far from moral at times. The airstrikes of Lebanon that supposedly targeted Hezbollah, killing tons of civilians. Not to mention how they've been handling the whole conflict with Palestine (even if Hamas hasn't always been much better) also resulting in the death of tons of civilians, refusing to try and reach a compromise since they've got US support on their side who has vetoed every resolution in the UN to try and force them to reach some sort of middle ground.
Vizzed Elite

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 07-21-13
Last Post: 136 days
Last Active: 1 day

(edited by Zlinqx on 03-05-17 11:51 AM)    

Links

Page Comments


This page has no comments

Adblocker detected!

Vizzed.com is very expensive to keep alive! The Ads pay for the servers.

Vizzed has 3 TB worth of games and 1 TB worth of music.  This site is free to use but the ads barely pay for the monthly server fees.  If too many more people use ad block, the site cannot survive.

We prioritize the community over the site profits.  This is why we avoid using annoying (but high paying) ads like most other sites which include popups, obnoxious sounds and animations, malware, and other forms of intrusiveness.  We'll do our part to never resort to these types of ads, please do your part by helping support this site by adding Vizzed.com to your ad blocking whitelist.

×