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Why Syria Matters

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Abstract

Syria’s pivotal nature stems from its enduring history and civilization, and its susceptibility to engender and synthesize diverse and often contradictory, streams in civilization, religion and politics. In nurturing three great religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—Syria’s contribution to world civilization is incomparable. At the same time, in a repetition of history, the civil war has made Syria the septic focus of a failed international system. The outcome of the civil war will determine the future contours of the system. This chapter focuses on Syria’s multiple dimensions, alluded to in the introduction, highlighting its contribution to regional and international stability. An understanding of the unique character of the country and its people becomes crucial to visualizing the outcome of the civil war.

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Notes

  1. 1.

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  2. 2.

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  3. 3.

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  6. 6.

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  7. 7.

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  8. 8.

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  9. 9.

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  11. 11.

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  12. 12.

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  13. 13.

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  14. 14.

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  15. 15.

    James Harkin, ‘The Race to Save Syria’s Archeological Treasures,’ The Smithsonian Magazine, March 2016, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/race-save-syrias-archaeological-treasures-180958097/.

  16. 16.

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  17. 17.

    Ibid. James Harkin.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

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  20. 20.

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  21. 21.

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  22. 22.

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  23. 23.

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  24. 24.

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  25. 25.

    Ibid. Bessie L. Ashton.

  26. 26.

    The Review of Religions, ‘Syria’s Religious Heritage’, November 13, 2013, http://www.reviewofreligions.org/9983/syrias-religious-heritage/.

  27. 27.

    Dr. Mustafa Siba’i, ‘The Islamic Civilization’, 2002, Awakening Publications, Swansea, UK, pp 82–83.

  28. 28.

    Andrea Williams, ‘Syria’s Forgotten Pluralism and Why It Matters Today’, The Conversation, April 15, 2017, http://theconversation.com/syrias-forgotten-pluralism-and-why-it-matters-today-76206.

  29. 29.

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  30. 30.

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  31. 31.

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  32. 32.

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  33. 33.

    “Druze (religion).” Encyclopaedia Britannica, October 22, 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/172195/Druze.

  34. 34.

    Seth Kaplan, ‘Syria’s Ethnic and Religious Divisions,’ Fragile States, February 2012, https://www.fragilestates.org/2012/02/20/syrias-ethnic-and-religious-divides/.

  35. 35.

    Hashem Osseiran, ‘How Sectarianism Can Help Explain the Syrian War,’ newsdeeply.com, March 6, 2018, https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2018/03/06/how-sectarianism-can-help-explain-the-syrian-war.

  36. 36.

    Adam Akerfeldt, ‘Consociational Democracy in Theory and Practice’, Research Gate, April, 8, 2016, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306101234_Consociational_Democracy_in_Theory_and_Practice/.

  37. 37.

    Afshin Shahi & Maya Vachkova, ‘Eco-sectarianism: From Ecological Disasters to Sectarian Violence in Syria’, Asian Affairs, July 16, 2018, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 449–467, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03068374.2018.1487697.

  38. 38.

    Ibid.

  39. 39.

    Ibid. De Chantal.

  40. 40.

    Ibid. Afshin Shahi & Maya Vachcova.

  41. 41.

    Francesca De Chatel, ‘The Role of Drought and Climate Change in the Syrian Uprising: Untangling the Triggers of Revolution’, Middle Eastern Studies, May 7, 2014, https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/files/francesca-de-chatel-drought-in-syria.pdf.

  42. 42.

    Mahmoud Solh, ‘Tackling the Drought in Syria’, Nature Middle East, September 27, 2010, http://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2010.206.

  43. 43.

    Ibid.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Caitlin E. Werrell & Francesco Femia (Eds.), ‘The Arab Spring and Climate Change: A Climate and Security Correlations Series’, Centre for American Progress 2013, https://climateandsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/climatechangearabspring-ccs-cap-stimson.pdf.

  46. 46.

    Mirren Gidda, ‘Drug’s in War: What Is Captagon, the ‘Jihad Pill’ Used by Islamic State Militants’, Newsweek, December, 5, 2017, https://www.newsweek.com/drugs-captagon-islamic-state-jihad-war-amphetamines-saudi-arabia-608233.

  47. 47.

    Mark Krantz & Will Nichols, ‘A Bitter Pill to Swallow: Connections Between Captagon, Syria and the Gulf’, SIPA, Columbia Journal of International Affairs, May 18, 2016, https://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/bitter-pill-swallow-connections-captagon-syria-gulf.

  48. 48.

    https://www.britannica.com/place/Syria.

  49. 49.

    Seth Frantzen, ‘Syria: The Largest (and Most Important) Conflict of the 21st Century’, The National Interest, April 16, 2018, https://nationalinterest.org/feature/syria-the-largest-most-important-conflict-the-21st-century-25406?page=0%2C1.

  50. 50.

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  51. 51.

    Ibid. Kamal Alam.

  52. 52.

    Kirill Semenov, ‘Who Controls Syria? The Al Assad family, the Inner Circle and the Tycoons’, Russian International Affairs Council, February 12, 2018, https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/who-controls-syria-the-al-assad-family-the-inner-circle-and-the-tycoons/.

  53. 53.

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  54. 54.

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  55. 55.

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  56. 56.

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  57. 57.

    Ibid. Don Belt.

  58. 58.

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  59. 59.

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  60. 60.

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  61. 61.

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  62. 62.

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  63. 63.

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  64. 64.

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  65. 65.

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  66. 66.

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  67. 67.

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  68. 68.

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  69. 69.

    Yehuda U. Blanga, ‘Saudi Arabia’s Motives in the Syrian Civil War,’ Middle East Policy Council, Winter 2017, Vol. XXIV, No. 4, https://www.mepc.org/journal/saudi-arabias-motives-syrian-civil-war.

  70. 70.

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  1. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Rajendra M. Abhyankar

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Abhyankar, R.M. (2020). Why Syria Matters. In: Syria. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4562-7_2

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