Apply Michael E.

Browns Underlying causes of internal conflict to Syria before the outbreak

of the Civil War. Write a few sentences about how the factor applies/or not and provide the
source.

Structural Factors (Pietro, Leander, Jenisse)

Ethnic Geography:

(h
ttp://www.fragilestates.org/2012/02/20/syrias-ethnic-and-religious-divides/)

Intra-state Security concerns:

Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war have been numerous and serious. In June 2012
[1]:10

Amnesty International claimed the majority had been committed by government forces,
though the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said that both sides appear to have committed
war crimes, with UN investigations having claimed that the government's abuses are the greatest in both
gravity and scale.

[2][3]

Example: Local Christian minorities are also facing many human rights violations. Two bishops had
been kidnapped on April 22, 2013 and have not been heard from since. Aleppo's Greek Orthodox
Bishop Boulos Yazij and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped at gun point by
unknown combatants when returning from a humanitarian mission to Turkey. During the kidnapping,
the deacon driving them was shot and killed.

"One month after two Orthodox Christian bishops were kidnapped by gunmen in Syria, officials say
they still have no idea what has happened to the missing prelates". All of which indicating that is was
an action by local terror gangs.[61]
Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_during_the_Syrian_Civil_War

WEAK STATE:
Fragile States Index (2010) Fund for Peace

Since the Arab popular revolts began in 2011, a new problem has arisen:
governability. About half a dozen states in the Arab world today are either without a
strong governing body or run by weak and fragmented governments. In Syria and
Libya, state institutions have collapsed, leading to civil war and internecine fighting.
In Yemen and Somalia, the central government is extremely weak and unable to
assert its authority. Iraq is seeking to recover but about one-third of its territories is
controlled by ISIS. Lebanon has hardly had any strong governing body since the end
of the civil war. Outside the Arab world, countries such as Haiti, the Central African
Republic and Bangladesh, while each having its own unique circumstances, are stuck
in the danger zone of failing states.
The citizens of those countries suffer the consequences of insecurity, lawlessness,
poverty and internal fighting.
(http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/ibrahim-kalin/2015/02/03/failed-statesweak-governments-a-global-threat)

Political Factors (Hannah, Isabella, Charlotte, Shaden)

Inter-group politics

http://middleeast.about.com/od/syria/tp/The-Difference-Between-AlawitesAnd-Sunnis-In-Syria.htm
http://www.indexmundi.com/syria/political_parties_and_leaders.html
The Baath party of Assad has all the power. It has most of the seats in the
Parliament. Assad is alawite so Alawites support the party and most
Sunnis dont. Assads army has Alawites in the top position, while the Free
Syrian Army has Sunnis. Furthermore Kurdish parties are considered
illegal.
Discriminatory Political institutions: shaden
Minority rule:

Syria is a majority Sunni Muslim country but the top positions in the security
apparatus are in the hands of the Alawis , a Shiite religious minority to which the
Assad family belongs. Most Syrians pride themselves on their tradition of religious

tolerance, but many Sunnis still resent the fact that so much power is monopolized
by a handful of Alawi families. While not a driving force of the Syrian uprising, the
combination of a majority Sunni protest movement and an Alawi-dominated military
has added to the tension in religiously mixed areas, such as the city of Homs.
Corruption: Whether it's a license to open a small shop or a car registration, wellplaced payments make wonders in Syria. For those without the money and good
contacts, it's a powerful grievance against the state. Ironically, the system is corrupt
to the extent that anti-Assad rebels buy weapons from the government forces, and
families bribe the authorities to release relatives that have been detained during the
uprising.

Exclusionary national ideologies: In its 2015 annual report on Syria, the US Commission
on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote that al-Assads regime continues to
target Sunni Muslim civilians and other individuals that oppose it," US Department of State's
International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 "there were reports of killing, imprisonment,
detention, and the intentional destruction of property on the basis of religion". The Executive
Director at the Syria Justice and Accountability Center of in general, society is becoming closed
[in its] political and religious views [and] society is becoming less tolerant of atheists [and
secularists]" I spoke to Orwa and Roua about how Atheism is viewed in their environment. Orwa
who is an Atheist himself said that it was not a problem to be an Atheist in Syria. He would not be
really open about it because it could affect the view people have of his family and it would affect
the family in a bad way. However he did not encounter any problems being an atheist.
Elite Politics: Since 1987, there have been many instances of Elite Politics in Assads
regime. In addition to obviously the power having been passed down through the Assad
family (which is questionable legitimacy), there is also the case of Assads inner circle of
roughly a dozen elite officials that were in charge of different units within the military and
government. In order to discourage collaboration between themselves, they all reported
directly and only to the President himself, with very little reach to the outside world. Also,
most of Syrias political elite are members of the same religious minority, the Alawites (to
which Assad belongs). There is also a disproportionate amount of members of Assad;s own
Numaylatillah clan. In addition, members of the Damascenes, an ancient elite class of Sunni
Muslims, have a larger amount of influence than less elite groups.
Economic/Social Factors (Jennifer, Kiitan, Elias, Scott)
Modernization (Jennifer): Bashar Al-assad wanted to modernize Syrias government with a
different approach. He changed the economical model, introduced capitalism, neoliberalism
and economical liberalist policies. But to do so, he had to modernize the society as well, and
instead, he keep opression in his government. This was one of the main factors that made
syrian civil war start.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/06/opinion/syria-assad-brink/

Economic Problems (Kiitan)

Before the bloodshed of the civil war in Syria, the countrys economy was diverse. The most
important sectors included agriculture (22 percent of the economy), industry and excavation
(25 percent), retail (23 percent), and tourism (12 percent), according to 2009 figures quoted
by the Syrian Central Bank. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/alarabiyastudies/2013/04/01/Syria-s-frail-economy-before-and-after-the-revolution.html
The direct effect comes from the decline in the size and skills of Syrias labor force due to
loss of life and refugee outflows, infrastructure destruction, the trade embargo on Syria, costof-doing-business increases, and a decline in productivity. The indirect effect captures the
opportunity cost of foregone trade integration initiatives aimed at improving trade logistics
and liberalizing trade in services in the region.
http://blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/economic-impact-syrian-war-and-spread-isis-who-loseshow-much
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/12/22316371/economic-effects-syrian-warspread-islamic-state-levant

One report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) published in March 2015
claimed that Syria had lost more than $119bn in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since
the outbreak up until 2014, and that total losses amounted to $220bn when
comparing to a scenario without the conflict.
Discriminatory economic systems: In Syria right before the war, the Syrian Arab Republic
was rated to have very high levels of women discrimination in social institutions which
included economic institutions like small businesses. This was due to the fact of certain laws
and regulations in 2012 which prevented women prospects from becoming entrepreneurs
and employees. The statistics of women in the syrian workforce was 20% compared to male
workers of 80%, even though the country has a literacy rate of 93% percent for women.
http://www.unicef.org/gender/files/Syria-Gender-Eqaulity-Profile-2011.pdf
Cultural/Perceptual Factors (Daniel, Mohammed, Anthony)
Patterns of cultural discrimination: (mohammed)

Syrian refugee women in Lebanon are at risk of being exploited by

people in positions of authority, in part because of the
government's refusal to renew residency permits for Syrian
refugees and a severe lack of international aid money, according
to Kathryn Ramsay, a gender researcher with Amnesty
International and author of a new report on the topic.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) halted all registration of
incoming Syrian refugees in Lebanon in 2015 due to
governmental pressure, and introduced new regulations that have
made it increasingly difficult for refugees to renew their residency
status in the country.
Without legal residency, refugees face arbitrary arrest, detention
and potential deportation consequences that leave many afraid
to report cases of abuse to Lebanese authorities.

The majority of refugees from Syria in Lebanon are struggling to

survive in often desperate conditions, said Ramsay. They face
widespread discrimination and major obstacles in obtaining food,
housing or a job.
Nearly 70 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live well below
the Lebanese poverty line.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/refugee-women-lebanonexploitation_us_56c22cd5e4b08ffac1260ee7?
ir=Women&section=us_women&utm_hp_ref=women
Problematic group histories: What experts call an ethnic security dilemma is currently
taking place in Syria. The Sunni majority in Syria before World War I deprived the Alawite
minority of even the most basic rights, but when the Alawite took control in the 1920s, they
began consolidating their power throughout the following decades into a dictatorship. Since
then, ruthless and bloody massacres have been committed by both sides as a result of the
tension and discontent. Each side now fears atrocities that will be committed by the side that
takes power, making the struggle(compounded with history) even more bloody.
(http://www.iop.harvard.edu/gangs-syria)