The Syrian Civil War

The concept of civil war refers to the conflict that arises between more than one party and within the borders of the state itself, where the forms of this war differ according to its motives, some seek to obtain independence and autonomy, and this type of war is classified under the category of revolutionary conflicts. 

Some aim to impose government and control on the central government of a particular country, and it is called ethnic civil wars, and whatever its goals, it often includes a group of different elements, and it is completely different from those wars that arise between one state and another. 

In the mid-March of 2011, several demonstrations began in Syrian cities, first demanding the release of freedoms, the release of political detainees from prisons, and the lifting of the state of emergency, and then over the ceiling of the demand gradually increased until it reached the demand to the over through of Bashar al-Assad's regime entirely.

Thus, the demand for the departure of Bashar al-Assad's regime was the first spark of the Syrian civil war. In addition, the killing of the child Hamza al-khatib (from Daraa governorate, 14 years) at the beginning of the revolution exacerbated the crisis and increased demonstrations in it, so Daraa was considered a symbol of the revolution.

With the development of the crisis, splits in the regular army began to increase, and at the beginning of August, the founding of the free Syrian army was announced and military confrontations began on a small and limited scale between the regular and opposition forces, and then gradually expanded until they started to reach the level of direct combat by the end of the year and beginning of 2012.

After that, we started observing an intervention from many foreign countries, like Russia, Turkey, Iran, the United States of America, and Israel…etc., whether directly through entering the Syrian territories and sending military bases to it, such as Russia. Or indirectly, by supporting some Syrian factions with weapons, such as America's support for the opposing factions, we also began to see regional and global changes at the level of alliances. 

In addition to the losses incurred by these countries, the race of countries to armaments to participate in the Syrian war cost them great economic losses. So, we started to see demonstrations today in Iran due to poverty and the difficult economic situation, as we hear about protests, albeit few in Russia.

 Syrian war’s, three stages and levels:

First, the individual level means that there is a national interest to re-elect a new regime based on democracy and fairness because most of the Syrian people consider themselves marginalized. 

So, they went out to the squares, demanding freedom and a new inclusive system seek to equality between all segments and sects of Syrian society, and after the development of the Syrian revolution, these individuals began meeting and holding seminars for the youth to urge them to join the revolution and seek to change the system.

Second, we have the Domestic Level, which means the conflict between the Syrian regime and the opposition (revolutionaries), this is what we have seen by increasing the splits in the Syrian army, and the setup of a new army (the free military).

But the main reason for dividing the Syrian army into a regular army and an opposition army was the implementation by the major powers of their interests, that is, to obtain the natural resources of Syria.

Third, we have the international level which means that foreign countries interfere in the war, and that's what happened in Syria, since many states interfered in the Syrian war especially Russia, which was the most prominent player in the Syrian war, because Russia supported the Syrian government since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011 politically. 

And since 30 September 2015 also through direct military participation; this marked the first time since the end of the Cold War that Russia had entered an armed conflict outside the borders of the former Soviet Union, not only Russia but also many countries interfered in the Syrian war, whether through direct or indirect intervention.

The international intervention level came under the pretext of eliminating terrorist organizations such as Jabhat al-Nusra, and ISIS.

Moreover, many parties and external groups interfered in the Syrian war with various arguments, such as Hezbollah (the Lebanese political party) that entered the Syrian war beside Bashar al-Assad’s regime, under the pretext of defending Islamic sanctities in Syria.

There were innumerable military challenges encountered in Syria. There are interstate problems that show through the interstate wars, which were done by a foreign state like the intervention of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the United State of America in Syria.

The Great-power competitions, which means the arms race and the competition to control the natural resource, indeed Russia’s need for oil and natural resources pushed it into the Syrian war. 

The weapons proliferation in unstable states is another military challenge to Syria, because with the beginning of the Syrian revolution, weapons began flowing from foreign countries toward the Syrian lands, so weapons became in the hands of everyone and were no longer confined to the state.

The Intrastate troubles which are another military challenge, include the civil war that happened in Syria in 2011 and become an ethical conflict (religious conflicts between Sunni and Alawites). 

The transnational problems were considered a military challenge in Syria because the Syrian war became a cross-border conflict. After all, many countries entered this war, and we started to see the conflicts between these states.

Thus, the Syrian war led to the emergence of terrorist groups that killed people mercilessly, and then these terrorist groups became transnational. And finally, the other challenge is the proliferation of weapons by non-state actors. 

Edited By Palak Chauhan

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