5: Key Challenges to Syria Flashcards
Challenge 1:
Russia and China supporting the Assad Regime
Russia has:
2009 - Investments in Syria valued around $19.4 billion
China is fearful:
Of supporting any pro democracy movement
China and Russia veto:
2014 - UNSC attempt to refer Assad to the ICC for severe breaches of human rights
Director of Amnesty International:
“The vetoes by Russia and China are a callous political move that betrays suffering people in Syria”
Aljazeera:
“Some have even gone so far to suggest Assad’s future is Putin’s ace card in the game over Ukraine”
Challenge 2:
The presence of militant extremists
Argument (Militant Extremists):
The emergence of extremist groups has diluted the international communities response to the Syrian crises.
Jame Clapper (Director of National Intelligence):
Extremists are present in 13 of Syria’s 14 provinces and are “starting to establish municipal services, provide humanitarian aid and sharia law courts”
Syrian National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar:
“Don’t expect anything from Geneva II. Geneva X will not solve the Syrian crisis”
Challenge 3:
The increasingly sectarian nature of the conflict
Aljazeera:
“What began as a peaceful protest that was violently repressed, is now an armed conflict with sectarian dimensions”
Assad regime accused of:
May 2013 - Assad regime accused of 2 mass killings that resulted in 200 Sunni deaths
Gabriela Keller:
“A string of sectarian massacres has acclerated the segregation, driving Sunnis and Alawis apart”
Overall (Sectarian nature):
Sectarian conflicts are notoriously more difficult to resolve as the waring parties share long histories of violence and oppression that cannot be easily resolved by political solutions.
