Civil War
It is a common belief that the world superpowers intervene in civil wars for humanitarian reasons. It is also believed that the intervention is aimed at facilitating negotiations or helping a particular side win. Often, however, the intervening states have a separate plan different from those of the affected country. Intervention through this manner makes the civil war challenging to resolve and only prolongs the war. This study reveals how external states make conflicts less predictable and extend wars. The paper will focus on Syria as the case study.
The civil war in Syria began in March 2011 with protests against the president, Bashar-al-Assad. The demonstrations then evolved into armed rebellions at the beginning of 2012. “The war has continued unabated and involved dozens of nations including Arab, regional and international nations and powers.” (Kabalan, 1). The war has led to one of the most notable humanitarian crises since the end of World War II. More than 9 million Syrians have been displaced, and about 500,000 people killed. “The war has resulted in global and regional participation in a proxy war within Syria with spill-over effects beyond the region.” (Cunningham, 117). The proxy war is a conflict started by the superpowers who do not directly get involved in the war but benefit from its effects.
Irrespective of the various external states’ varying roles in the nine years of war in Syria, It is impossible to acknowledge the importance of geopolitical factors, taking into consideration the intermingling and conflicting agendas of these countries. Nevertheless, when these big players engage in a proxy war, the developing nations are left to foot the bill, which mostly comes in high economic, human, and political costs (Cunningham, 119). There is widespread destruction of property and loss of lives as a result of the war. It also leads to continuous political instability in the affected nation. The primary reason for the deep crisis In Syria and the prolonged war is because of the competing interests for gas exports by both the regional and global powers.
They all want to be in control of this scarce resource found in the country.
The presence of extremist organizations, such as the Al Nusra Front and Isis, and armed terrorists has caused a severe threat to the security of Syria as a nation and other parts of the world. The Crisis in Syria has not only created a devastating impact on the economic and socio-political conditions in Syria but has also caused tremors in the whole Middle East and weakened the West’s relationship with China and Russia as a whole (Cunningham, 123). It is because the West had conflicting interests with those of China and Russia. Most of the intervening states have extended their military presence and activity in Syria because of the fear of terrorist attacks that they believe is caused by the current leadership and contributed to the prolonged war.
Another major contributor to the prolonged war in Syria is the global divide in support of opposing camps. “With Russia and China leading one camp at the UN, the US, Britain, and France leading the opposite camp, the global divide over Syrian war has continued through the nine years of conflict.” (Kabalan, 10). The rival parties in Syria have continuously provided military support and resources to their allies, which are parallel with the political backing. The air force for Russia, which joined the operation in 2015 through Assad’s invitation, has a detrimental effect on the war efforts wedged against Turkish-affiliated, Arab-financed, and Western-backed terror groups and militants
. The international structural system’s influence on the civil war is in a manner that the ongoing external states divide will continue to affect any efforts to stop the war in Syria through peaceful negotiations. The only way to end civil wars is when intervening states put aside their agendas and work together with the other major players with a common goal to stop the fight.