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The Syrian Crisis from Three Different Approaches to International Relations

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The Syrian Crisis from Three Different Approaches to International Relations Running Head: THE SYRIAN CRISIS The Syrian Crisis from Three Different Approaches to International Relations Thesis By Kayvan Hosseini Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science In International Economic Relations State University of New York Empire State College 2018 Reader: Max Hilaire THE SYRIAN CRISIS 2 Statutory Declaration / Čestné prohlášení I, Kayvan Hosseini, declare that the paper entitled: The Syrian Crisis from Three Different Approaches to International Relations was written by myself independently, using the sources and information listed in the list of references. I am aware that my work will be published in accordance with § 47b of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., On Higher Education Institutions, as amended, and in accordance with the valid publication guidelines for university graduate theses. Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto práci vypracoval/a samostatně s použitím uvedené literatury a zdrojů informací. Jsem vědom/a, že moje práce bude zveřejněna v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb., o vysokých školách ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a v souladu s platnou Směrnicí o zveřejňování vysokoškolských závěrečných prací. In Prague, 27/11/2017 Kayvan Hosseini THE SYRIAN CRISIS 3 Acknowledgment I wish to express my sincere thanks to my mentor, Prof. Max Hilaire, for advising me and guiding me. I place on record; my sincere thank you to Prof. Oscar Hidalgo, the head of International Economic Relations department at the University of New York in Prague (UNYP). During my four years’ study, he thought me a lot and had a significant impact on the direction of my studies which in the end, resulted in the following thesis. I take this opportunity to express gratitude to all of the UNYP and ESC faculty members for their help and support. I am also grateful to Farin Assemi, my partner in life who supported me and helped me in my studies and beyond. Without her, it was not possible to finish the International Economic Relations bachelor program and write this thesis. THE SYRIAN CRISIS 4 Table of the Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………...5 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….6 Historical Context…………………………………………………………………...8 Chapter I: The History of the Syrian Conflict……………………………………………...14 Chapter II: International Players…………………………………………………………...24 Iran…………………………………………………………………………………25 Russia………………………………………………………………………………26 United States……………………………………………………………………….28 Saudi Arabia…………………………………………………………………….….30 Turkey……………………………………………………………………………...31 Others………………………………………………………………………………33 Chapter III: Realism………………………………………………………………………..36 Solutions……………………………………………………………………………42 Critical View……………………………………………………………………….43 Chapter IV: Liberalism…………………………………………………………………….46 International Efforts………………………………………………………………..51 Solutions……………………………………………………………………………53 Critical View……………………………………………………………………….54 Chapter V: Constructivism…………………………………………………………………55 Solutions……………………………………………………………………………63 Critical View……………………………………………………………………….64 Chapter VI: Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….66 References………………………………………………………………………………….71 THE SYRIAN CRISIS 5 Abstract The Arab Spring, what once appeared to be a beacon of hope for the Middle East, has become Syria’s worst nightmare. The Syrian civil war, caused by the uprising after the Arab Spring, has entered its seventh year, and despite significant international efforts, there remains no clear solution on the horizon. Why has the Syrian civil war become such a complex issue? Analyzing Syrian civil war from the lenses of three main International Relations theories – Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism – can help us to answer these questions. Each of these theories has different assumptions and explains conflicts, such as the Syrian war, differently. Although realism, with its focus on states as the sole actors in the international arena, ignores forces such as ISIS or Kurds and sees the war as an inevitable act of survival, liberalism takes non-state actors into consideration and has a critical approach toward national government for failing to use global tools, such as the United Nations, to prevent such a disaster. Furthermore, in contrast with both realism and liberalism, constructivism explains the conflict through more in-depth structural backgrounds, such as the historical rivalry between Shia and Sunnis or between liberal democracy and illiberal states. THE SYRIAN CRISIS 6 The Syrian Crisis from Three Different Approaches to International Relations The Arab Spring, what once appeared to be a beacon of hope for the Middle East, has become Syria’s worst nightmare. The Syrian civil war, caused by the uprising after the Arab Spring, has entered its seventh year, and despite significant international efforts, there remains no clear solution on the horizon. The conflict has devastated the country, causing approximately half a million casualties and creating the largest refugee crisis since World War II (Glass, 2016). According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of March 2017, more than five million Syrians have escaped the war, fled their country, and become refugees (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), n.d.). Furthermore, the United Nations office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that during the war, 6.3 million people have been displaced inside Syria’s national borders (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), n.d.). The country is deeply divided into four main factions: the Assad forces, Assad’s opposition groups, Islamic State (ISIS),1 and Kurdish forces. Furthermore, many global and regional powers are meddling in the situation, and they all have opposing interests. Thus, this outside interference has made the dispute even more complex and unresolvable. United Nations-led peace talks have also failed to initiate any meaningful change. 1 The name of this group has been subject to debate. Their current official name is the which they adopted in ,(الدولة اﻹسﻻمية Islamic State” (in Arabic ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah“ April 2013. However, since they became famous with their previous names of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and later the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), some governments still refer to them as ISIL or ISIS. Almost all of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Israel, refer to the group as Daesh, which is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. For the purpose of unity, this paper uses the name ISIS. THE SYRIAN CRISIS 7 Why has the Syrian civil war become such a complex issue? How did a movement that appeared to have liberal aspirations turn the country into failed state and a haven for some of the world’s most extremist ideologies? Furthermore, what is the motivation for so many outside forces, such as the United States, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, to actively participate in this conflict? Although there are different responses to these questions, answering them is the first step to understanding the Syrian civil war. However, how can one decide which facts are relevant to answering these questions? According to Baylis, Smith, and Owens (2011), “a theory is a kind of simplifying device” with a series of “hypotheses and assumptions” (p. 3) to help researchers decide where to start, which facts are important, and how the analysis should be performed to explain an important political process. Scholars have been analyzing world politics for centuries, and international relations (IR) has become a central academic field to study world politics since the end of World War I (Baylis et al., 2011). With almost 200 years of academic history, the IR field has produced numerous theories that have evolved over the years. According to Walt (1998), realism, liberalism, and constructivism are three dominant IR theories. He argued that these three theories “shape both public discourse and policy analysis” (cited in Snyder, 2004). Among these three theories, “realism has been the dominant way to explaining world politics in the last one hundred years” (Baylis et al., 2011). Despite the development of other theories, realism is one of the most popular views among Middle Eastern politicians. In contrast, liberalism, the second-oldest international theory, is a fundamental philosophy for government and society; however, it is not favored in the Middle East. Some scholars have described THE SYRIAN CRISIS 8 constructivism as an idealistic approach, and the academic literature regarding this theory is relatively limited. Each of these theories has different assumptions and explains conflicts, such as the Syrian war, differently. Although realism, with its focus on states as the sole actors in the international arena, ignores forces such as ISIS or Kurds and sees the war as an inevitable act of survival, liberalism takes non-state actors into consideration and has a critical approach toward national government for failing to use global tools, such as the United Nations, to prevent such a disaster. Furthermore, in contrast with both realism and liberalism, constructivism explains the conflict through more in-depth structural backgrounds, such as the historical rivalry between Shia and Sunnis or between liberal democracy and illiberal states. Historical Context On April 17, 2017, Syria celebrated its 71st Independence Day. The date marked the evacuation of French troops from the then Syrian Republic, ending the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon. The Syrian government tried
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