case study syria

• Arab Spring


  protests against regimes in Middle Eastern countries start: 2011, Tunisia
• Bashar al-Assad


  current president of Syria
• Hafez al-Assad

  previous president of Syria, member of Alawi, created the government regime in Syria but also brought stability to the country
• FSA

  Free Syrian Army - main opposition to the Syrian government
• ISIS

  Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - a jihadist organisation involved in the Syrian civil war
• Al-Nusra Front


  also known as: Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Fatah al-Shamradical jihadist islamist group formed by former Al-Qaeda members
• proxy war


  war in which certain states do not engage directly but support one side of the conflict
• motivation of proxy supporters


  coercion, disruption, transformation
• major supporting states in the Syrian war

  Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, USA
• Arab Monitoring Mission


  mission of Arab League that aimed to solve the conflict in Syria by negotiating a compromise with Assadsupport: Gulf countries, Russia, Iran, Chinaagainst: Syria, Algeria, Egypt
• jus ad bellum


  lat. right to warthe law that defines the conditions for the use of force in conflict
• jus in bello


  lat. justice in warthe law that defines justice for people affected by war, currently International Humanitarian Law, defines how war is conducted
• Article 2(4) of the UN Charter


  all UN member states shall refrain from using military force as a means of solving conflictexceptions: self-defence, authorization by UNSC
• Article 51 of the UN Charter


  the use of military force in self-defence requires the presence of an armed attack that needs response of urgent necessity and proportionality
• Caroline Incident


  use of force incident that led to the creation of Article 51
• failed/fragile state


  a state weakened by domestic conflicts and so significantly less capable of performing its functions to protect citizens
• influences of terrorism

  situational factors, direct causes, individual motivation
• situational factors causing terrorism


  social customs, weak government, ineffective security measures
• direct causes of terrorism


  discrimination of minorities, no political opportunities, precipitating events
• individual motivation causing terrorism

  individual aims, organizational goals, individual psychology, past experiences
• foreign fighter


  non-citizen of a conflict state who voluntarily joined the conflict to fight
• humanitarian space


  the physical or symbolic space, which humanitarian actors need to help according to the principles of neutrality, impartiality and humanity
• traits of humanitarian arena

  unpredictable behavior, different motives of states, no predetermined principles, no predetermined actors, no predetermined actions
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi


  ISIS leader and caliph
• greed motivation for conflict


  rebellion occurs when there is a profitable opportunity
• grievance motivation for conflict


  rebellion occurs when there is high enough grievance-driven motive within the public
• indicators for greed motivation

  financing possibility, low costs, weak government, weak military
• indicators for grievance motivation

  ethnic and religious discrimination, political exclusion, repressions, ethnic and religious dominance, ethnic and religious inequalities
• goal of Saudi Arabian sponsorship


  gain influence in the newly created future government
• goal of Qatari sponsorship


  gain influence in the newly created future government
• goal of Kuwaiti sponsorship


  provide humanitarian aid to the regionprivate donors: support of radical groups of their choice
• patron-client mechanism of selective distribution

  the government supplies goods to the citizens in exchange for political compliance and support
• IPCC


  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - panel composed of scientists who assess and share current knowledge on climate change and its consequences with policy makers and the general public
• causes of sectarianism in modern Middle East

  historically rooted differences, by-product of the Arab Spring, spread in social media, sectarian regimes
• sponsoring identity-based fighting groups

  global powers: reluctantregional powers: shifted from supporting national-focused groups to identity-based groups, try to moderate identity-based groupsnon-state actors (ISIS, PKK): support without any constraint
• humanitarian law principles


  neutrality, impartiality, humanity
• principles of International Humanitarian Law


  military necessity, distinction (fighters vs civilians), proportionality
• Iran-Iraq War


  1980s, use of chemical weapons, sectarian (Sunni vs Shia), triggered by Iranian Revolution
• Obama's Red Line

  use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013
• Sykes-Picot plan


  a plan drafted by UK and France during WWI about territorial division of the Middle East in case of winning WWIUK: Iraq, Jordan (trade interests, oil)France: Lebanon, Syria (economic interests)