Abstract
This chapter examines rival explanations for the different degrees of attention paid to the crises in Syria and Yemen using a range of IR theories. In particular, the chapter explores four categories of explanations: ones that focus on great power interests, including alliances, ones that explore structural inequalities in the global system, including geographic location and postcolonial legacies, ones that engage with various aspects of national security, including refugee flows, and ones that consider different types of military engagement. These arguments set up the exploration of the data collected in Chap. 4.
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Notes
- 1.
According to Reporters without Borders, in the first half of 2018, the deadliest countries for journalists are Afghanistan (11 killed), Syria (7 killed), Yemen (5 killed), and Mexico (5 killed)—https://rsf.org/en/news/47-journalists-media-workers-killed-first-half-2018-rsf-says (accessed August 8, 2018).
- 2.
See, for example, “Houthis close NGOs in Yemen’s capital: rights group”—https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/houthis-close-ngos-yemen-capital-rights-group-151213054807769.html and “Here’s how you can send help to people trapped in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”—https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-11-29/heres-how-you-can-send-help-people-trapped-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis (accessed August 8, 2018).
- 3.
Homepage, Syrian NGO Alliance—http://syrianna.org/en (accessed August 8, 2018).
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Guidero, A., Carter Hallward, M. (2019). International Relations Theories and Global Attention to Syria and Yemen. In: Global Responses to Conflict and Crisis in Syria and Yemen. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02789-6_3
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