The ongoing conflict in Syria has blazed through the global media circuit. The horrors behind child deaths, refugee journeys, and human oppression burn our eyes, and serve as a constant reminder of the terror and violence occurring. But why did it start? How did we get to this point of perpetual war?
Within the Islamic State, the transition from peaceful protest to vicious insurrection may seem abrupt, but Syria’s turbulent history suggests otherwise. Before the radical Ba’ath Party, formed in 1947, Syria came under French rule following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. France controlled Syrian sociopolitical, economic, and international affairs, and in return, Arab revolt leader Amir Faysal Ibn Husayni, vaunting nationalistic ideals, remained king in Syria. The San Remo Conference of 1920 further bolstered French clout in the Arab world, and further incensed Arab nationalists. Yet Faysal accepted the French mandate, essentially renouncing any control liberated from colonial force, and thus exposing nationalistic limitations. Within the year, Faysal was exiled and relegated to a position in the British mandate. France divided the region according to religious and ethnic lines, the predominant communities being the Druze and Alawites versus the Sunni Muslims, empowering the minorities.
Once Syria gained independence, leadership mainly fell under an umbrella of dictatorships, governed by Sunni Arabs. Then, the Ba’ath Party coup consolidated power in 1963 under Hafez al-Assad, an advocate for minorities and a supporter of a diversified economy. While most of his economic and political reforms ultimately failed, he gathered a cult following. Hafez al-Assad faced threats from the Muslim Brotherhood Uprising, however, in the late 1970’s. In 1982, their revolt in Hama is silenced by the Syrian government.
Hafez al-Assad’s son, Bashar, assumed power after Hafez’s death in 2000. Bashar intended to modernize the Syrian state through the institution of liberal and capitalistic reforms. Soon after seeing his authoritarian regime challenged, he reverted to ruling by means of oppression. Yet ideas of freedoms, democracies, and rebellions now floated around citizens’ heads.
In 2011, the Arab Spring uprisings fueled the regime’s extreme response to anti-Assad protestors. Protests began in the South and quickly spread to the cities. The government stifled student voices with guns and handcuffs, responding to the outcry for internal restructuring with violence and repression. In addition, from 2006 to 2010, a record drought shook Syrian stability, causing internal migration to the city due to agricultural devastation. This environmental setback further increased internal turmoil, thereby leading to greater, and more urgent, demands for change.
The Free Syrian Group formed in 2011 to protest the Syrian regime, originally fighting for liberal and democratic ideals. They garnered support from Sunni Arab and Turkmen communities. During late 2013 and early 2014, the ISIS terrorist group, originating in Iraq, became involved in the Syrian civil war, retaliating against rebel forces. Seeking to restore the Islamic caliphate, or a religious replacement of the Islamic prophet, they promulgated their universalist creed. The situation can be distilled into a battle between sects-- the insurgencies against the federal government, or in other words, the Sunni Muslims against al-Assad's Alawites.
With the death toll exceeding 300,000, and even more Syrians displaced from their homes, the superfluous nature of factional schisms is crucial to understand. Historical perspectives and events play a role in molding the current Syrian state, yet the uprising is a more nuanced battle for basic human rights under the contemporary authoritarian regime. Scholars and academics in the vanguard of explaining the psychology behind civil war concur that the humanitarian crisis facing Syria stands as one of the worst in history.
