Syria

The ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings that started three years ago resulted in a major shifting of the Arab political landscape and brought about the overthrow of a number of deep-seated and oppressive regimes and dictators like in Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. However, the uprising in Syria remains unresolved and has evolved into a bloody civil conflict, caused so much casualties which has left destruction, lawlessness, and fear across the country. A resolution to the conflict has yet to be found, and thus far the international community has been mired in its inability to decisively influence the situation in Syria. That being said, military intervention is what the U.S. has been thinking to solve the issue on Syria. Although this method has been used in the past to stop further conflicts, due to the unique circumstances involved with Syria (sectarianism, dense population, threat of an expansion of the conflict into a regional war, relative strength of the Syrian military). Personally I think it is just not the right thing to do. One of the most pressing issues of the Syrian conflict is sectarianism; the division of the conflict between different religious and ethnic groups could transform it from a struggle against the Syrian regime into a struggle between the Syrian people. If there will be any military intervention and if they successfully overthrow the regime there will be a big chance of an expansion of the conflict into a regional war. There exists an acute anxiety amongst minorities about the predominately Sunni uprising, as these minorities fear discrimination or retribution if the regime collapses. The development of sectarian strife within Syria will have serious consequences. The Alawites are perceived as the ‘other’, and a common notion is that they are a group which has colonized parts of the territory and are incapable of assimilating with other Syrians. If minority groups such as the Alawites and Shiites fear discrimination and retribution, they will

Cited: 1. “Statistics for the Number of Martyrs”. Center For Documentation of Violations in Syria, accessed November 2, 2013. http://vdc-sy.org/index.php/en 2.”The Problem With The Regimes Military Solution”, Syria’s Mutating Conflict, International Crisis Group, accessed November 2, 2012. http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%2 Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/128-syrias-mutating-conflict.pdf 3. “Independent Alliances”, Tentative Jihad: Syria’s Fundamentalist Opposition, International Crisis Group, accessed November 2, 2012. http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20 Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/131-tentative-jihad-syrias-fundamentalist-opposition.pdf 4. “The Issue of Sectarianism”, Syria’s Mutating Conflict, International Crisis Group, accessed November 2, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/world/middleeast/russia-and- china-veto-un-sanctions-against-syria.htm 5. Steven Heydemann, “Managing Militarization In Syria”. Foreign Policy Magazine, accessed November 2 , 2013. http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/02/22/managing_militarization_in_syria