Syria is an independent nation in Western Asia. With the capital city of Damascus, Syria 2020 population is estimated at 17,500,669 according to countryaah. The modern state of Syria was formed during the 20th century, but people have lived in the area for a long time. Traces of early human species have been found in… Read More »
Syria is home to every second person on planet Earth. The country got its name thanks to the colonies of ancient Greek Assyria, the name of which was formed from the Semitic “Sirion”. It is not for nothing that Syria is called the progenitor of all civilization, because most of the most significant achievements of… Read More »
5: Rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran The ideological rivalry between Iran (Shia) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni) was dampened in the 20th century for very pragmatic reasons. The regimes in Iran and Saudi Arabia were politically conservative and had common interests in fighting more radical and nationalist parties and liberation movements in the Middle East,… Read More »
The Arab Spring also came to Syria. After largely peaceful demonstrations, authoritarian leaders and regimes fell in Tunisia and Egypt. In Libya and Syria, the situation developed quite differently. In Libya, the protests against the regime quickly developed into an armed uprising in which the rebels eventually received outside help. Based on a decision by… Read More »
8: The Kurds and the fight against IS During 2014 and 2015, the PYD-controlled Kurdish areas in Syria have been under attack from IS, which controls the areas further south with an Arab Sunni Muslim population. IS was close to overpowering the PYD in the city of Kubane , one of the autonomous Kurdish… Read More »
Since 2005, the KRG has been relatively stable despite the strong contradictions that still prevail between the PUK and the KDP and despite the emergence of IS and the war in Syria and Iraq. The area has also had a strong economic development in recent decades. This is largely due to oil deposits and increased… Read More »
The Kurds are considered the largest ethnic group in the world without a separate state. They live in an area that stretches over parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. They even call this area Kurdistan. For almost a hundred years, a number of Kurdish political movements have fought for independence in this area. Today,… Read More »
4: Syria – nightmare story While Tunisia could rule against democracy without significant outside interference, Syria was interesting to several other states. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar supported the uprising, as did the United States, Britain and France, while Russia and Iran sided with Assad. Neighboring Israel also reacted when Iranian-hired militia groups approached their… Read More »
It is now ten years since the Arab Spring swept over several countries in the Middle East. Does it have more democracy? What was the Arab Spring? Why did Tunisia do so well? Why was there a civil war in Syria? Did the result become more or less democracy? On December 17, 2010, the Tunisian… Read More »
4: From civil war to international conflict One of the main reasons why it seems impossible to find a solution is the internationalization of the conflict. Since 2011, a myriad of local, regional and international actors have been involved. Syria’s strategic position on the Mediterranean and the fact that it is located in the middle… Read More »
The civil war in Syria is an ongoing tragedy. Over twelve million people have had to flee their homes. Despite extensive media coverage, it is difficult to understand why the complex conflict is so difficult to resolve. But here you get the answer. How did the uprising start? How did the Assad family consolidate power?… Read More »