The Syrian dystopia and its spectrum of perpetual insecurity: An Ongoing Battle

             “The tree will live and we will live despite everything”

                          -Last gardener of Aleppo (2016) before the nursery was bombed 5 days later.

(Source-ABD DOUMANY/AFP via Getty Images Syrians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following reported air strikes by regime forces in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus)

2022, marked 11 years to the Syrian war, adding another year of suffering and ongoing pains for the population. Due to media fatigue and its tendency to normalize long-term conflicts, the situation in Syria appears to be fairly stable as compared to the last decade. However, with: 

• the ongoing pandemic and humanitarian crisis in Syria- upsurge in food, water and health insecurities, 

• an abuser of human rights and war-crime perpetuator as their so-called ‘elected’ president, 

• external superpowers,

• numerous extremist groups,

• and a shattered environment & economy, 

is enough to serve as an epistemic evidence that the country and its people are still in shambles. Even if the armed conflicts are minimized, one is bound to wonder whether it’s just the calm before the next storm. 

A conflicted issue like this one, requires elaborate discussions on its many chaotic fronts. However, due to constraints, I will mainly be focusing on the relativity of security and its implications on the human rights arena and ongoing violation by the regime. Security, in empirics and knowledge production in the field of international relations, has had its roots in the mainstream binaries of war and peace- with state security being the referent object, threats being externalized and the use of defense mechanisms like military its only go-to option to securitize the state. However, much changed after the Cold War with the dissolution of the bipolar world order as the conceptualization of security widened. The realization that security lies on an ambiguous and relative spectrum was extremely helpful in identifying that it is neither objective nor self-evident. This widened the way it was perceived by the world in the fronts of its types, threats, means, purpose and securitizing actors. 

In Syrian crisis it is important to understand that the relativity of security along with personal interests is at its core. The roots of this conflict started after the World War-1 when the French and British established the borders of the middle-eastern countries grouping many religious and ethnic groups in the same territories. In Syria specifically, Sunni (majority) and Shia Muslims, Alawites (minority) and Kurds. In 2000, Bashar Al-Asaad (Alawite) came into power and in the years leading up to 2011, his regime was accused of state repression, corruption and no political freedom. The Arab Spring (2011) marked the beginning of a civil war with a variety of different actors at play.  It is important to note that the referent object of security for the protestors was the general public but because of religious and ideological differences and lack of communal harmony, their security interests differed as the conflict widened. Assad‘s regime used the security of the minority representation of Alawites from Sunni intolerance and fundamentalism as justification for his exploitation. He faced opposition from rebel group- Free Syrian Army with many other extremist groups including Al Qaeda and ISIS who took advantage of the instability and started conquering parts of Syria while having opposing ideologies. The US decided to get involved to aid the rebels and justify its role as ‘humanitarian’ which is hard to believe considering; one; its interest in establishing dominance as a world power and two; its concern regarding the security of ‘oil fields’. The Kurds came in demanding autonomy and territorial security, facing opposition from Turkey. Russia and Iran joined forces with Assad to protect their own interests. Russia has its key naval facility at the Tartus port- its sole Mediterranean base. Also, due to its geographical location any unrest in the Middle East is a potential threat considering its large Muslim population in Chechnya. Saudi Arabia also joined in to continue its 40 years old cold war with Iran along with other Sunni states in the Middle East.

 

(Children carry the aid packages sent by Humanitarian Aid Foundation at a new village which was established near Sajur River by the Syrian civilians escaping from Um A'amuda village of Al-Safirah district located in south of  Syria due to the Assad regime's attacks. Source- Photo by Mustafa Sultan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

One can say that the protest manifested into different intersectional layers which turned Syria into a messy battleground, where proxy wars are fought, and weapons are tested in the name of a revolution. Syrian people have suffered the most- being exposed to armed conflicts, chemical weapons, detainment and torturous war crimes. Around 90% of the population still lives below the poverty line. More than 500,000 people are killed till date- with 5.7 million registered refugees and 6.2 million internally displaced people as of 2021. Nine rounds of UN led peace-talks have barely helped. Martin Griffiths, USG for Humanitarian Affairs said that as the conflict in Syria enters its second decade, “Failure each year cannot be our strategy.” The lens of security can be used to better conceptualize and understand the priorities at play. 

1. Referent Object- Security of the Syrians, not the state regime, or groups protecting their religious interests.

2. Threat- Extremist groups, exploitative regime, external powers, humanitarian crisis.

3. Means- International aid and donations, impactful peace talks, proper system of checks and balances, sanctions on the perpetuators.

4. Purpose- To not only secure the people of Syria, but also aid them to reform their destroyed homeland- both for refugees and internally displaced by providing access to the most basic of human rights and amenities.

5. Security agent-   International organizations like UNHCR and other independent groups that can provide humanitarian aid, and initiate impactful strategies to dissolve dissent between external players.

 (Source- Photo by Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, ALEPPO, SYRIA )

Today, many people claim that Assad has won the war by having control over 2/3rd of Syria’s territory and wining the 4th term of elections. Western powers claim that the elections were farced because only government-controlled regions were allowed to vote and regime-friendly countries were invited to keep a check. One might think that this situation returned to square one- from where it all began. However, it is also important to ask whether Assad has any support upon eliminating the propagandas and interests of different players. The answer is surprising but not unprecedented. For the Syrian population accepting the regime is like a last resort because the situation is desperate. Reasons may vary from- the easing up of tensions, access to humanitarian aid and even gaining security permits from the secret state services to get back their houses. Like Waever argues, expansion of the notion of security sometimes ends up centralizing state power and, in a war-inflicted country like Syria, the most basic of human rights tend to become a part of the larger security debate. This leads to exploitative practices like war crimes and torture chambers- justified in the name of protection- something that Assad’s regime has already been internationally condemned for. Through the critical perspective described by Cox one might argue that the system needs to be altered completely to prevent similar mishappenings again. With its absence, the crisis will always be an uphill battle.

Bibliography

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