Syria, Iraq and the Changing Strategic Context In
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Iraq and International Terrorism
Artur WEJKSZNER Institute of Political Science and Journalism Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznañ Iraq and international terrorism Introduction Terrorism, most generally understood as killing in order to achieve political gain, has accompanied humanity since the dawn of history.1 This simplified definition, which is only one of many, does not aim at explaining its essence. Over more than two centuries of attempts at fully explaining it, the idea has turned out to be very difficult to grasp and, to make matters worse, due to ideological reasons, has acquired contradic- tory connotations.2 To date several hundred definitions have been formulated, defini- tions which, in all cases, do not describe the phenomenon satisfactorily.3 For the sake of this article, however, it is worth making one more attempt. Terrorism is intimately con- nected with three matters: violence, terror and politics. If these elements are considered central to this phenomenon, then the definition proposed by Bruce Hoffman is fairly important and useful. According to his definition, terrorism is the conscious creation of terror and the use of violence or threats of violence when striving to attain political change. Terrorism is conceived purposefully so that it would have a long term psycho- logical impact, going considerably beyond the immediate victim. By means of public- ity, accomplished as a result of violence, terrorists hope to achieve influence and power in order to bring about changes at a local or international level.4 Across its existence, the phenomenon has gone through various evolutionary phases. One of the latest phases is the era of international terrorism. It is difficult to pre- 1 In Conor Gearty’s opinion we can read about terrorists in historical legends, among others in Flavius who wrote about the so called sykariuses (assassins with daggers).The precursors of terrorists were also assassins (an Ishmael Shiite sect), who murdered the leaders and participants of crusades to the Holy Land (C. -
Squaring the Circles in Syria's North East
Squaring the Circles in Syria’s North East Middle East Report N°204 | 31 July 2019 Headquarters International Crisis Group Avenue Louise 149 • 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 • Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Preventing War. Shaping Peace. Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. The Search for Middle Ground ......................................................................................... 3 A. The U.S.: Caught between Turkey and the YPG ........................................................ 3 1. Turkey: The alienated ally .................................................................................... 4 2. “Safe zone” or dead end? The buffer debate ........................................................ 8 B. Moscow’s Missed Opportunity? ................................................................................. 11 C. The YPG and Damascus: Playing for Time ................................................................ 13 III. A War of Attrition with ISIS Remnants ........................................................................... 16 A. The SDF’s Approach to ISIS Detainees ..................................................................... 16 B. Deteriorating Relations between the SDF and Local Tribes .................................... -
The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria Year of Origin
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN SYRIA Name: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria Year of Origin: 1945 Founder(s): Mustafa al-Sibai Place(s) of Operation: Syria Key Leaders: • Mohammad Hekmat Walid: Comptroller general [Image: Al Jazeera] • Hussam Ghadban: Deputy Comptroller general [Image not available] • Mohammad Hatem al-Tabshi: Head of Shura Council [Image not available] • Omar Mushaweh: Head of media and communications [Image; source: Fox News via Omar Mushaweh] • Mulham Droubi: Spokesman [Image; source: Syria Mubasher] • Zuhair Salem: Spokesman [Image; source: Twitter] • Mohammad Riad al-Shaqfeh: Former comptroller general [Image: AFP/Getty Images] • Mohammad Farouk Tayfour: Former deputy comptroller general [Image: please take from MB entity report] • Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni: Former comptroller general [Image: please take from MB entity report] • Issam al-Attar: Former comptroller general [Image: Bernd Arnold] Associated Organization(s): • Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin1 • Syrian Ikhwan2 The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (i.e., the Syrian Brotherhood or the Brotherhood) was formed in 1945 as an affiliate of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.3 The Syrian Brotherhood actively participated in Syrian politics until 1963, when the incoming pan-Arab Baath party began restricting the movement before ultimately banning the party in 1964.4 In 1964, Brotherhood member Marwan Hadid formed a violent offshoot—known as the Fighting Vanguard—whose members waged numerous terror attacks against the regime in the 1970s and early ’80s. In 1982, in order to quell a Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama, then-Syrian President Hafez al- Assad dealt a near-fatal blow to the group, killing between 10,000 and 40,000 armed 1 Raphaël Lefèvre, Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 24. -
Changing Regime Discourse and Reform in Syria
St Andrews Papers on Modern Syrian Studies Issue No 1, Autumn 2008 Changing Regime Discourse and Reform in Syria Aurora Sottimano and Selvik Kjetil Published by the Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland; Distributed by Lynne Rienner Press, Boulder, CO, USA ISBN: 978-0-9559687-1-6 2 Table of Contents: 1. Introduction: Changing Discourse under the Ba’th Raymond Hinnebusch 4 2. Ideology And Discourse in the Era of Ba’thist Reforms: 5 Towards an Analysis of Authoritarian Governmentality Aurora Sottimano 3. It’s the Mentality, Stupid: Syria’s Turn to the Private Sector 33 Kjetil Selvik 3 Introduction: Changing Discourse under the Ba’th By Raymond Hinnebusch Ideology and discourse enable us to chart, on one crucial level, the evolution of Syria’s political economy. Through it we are enabled to see the way material changes and constraints of the political economy, whether the outcomes of failed projects or new policies, are understood, promoted, and legitimatized. Aurora Sottimano shows that ideology matters and is an autonomous variable, especially in periods of change. In the Syrian Ba’th case, actors were ideologically driven at a certain point but in the consolidation of regimes, ideology becomes principally a hegemonic discourse meant to discipline social forces. Yet, it also constrains what can subsequently be advocated as legitimate; hence it tends to retard adaptation to material constraints in a sort of path dependency; still, when the gap between ideology and reality widens too much, ideology is modified, even reinvented to take account of constraints. Sottomano charts how the original Ba’thist discourse identified the obstacles to Syria’s development as backward traditional mentalities imperialism and feudal classes, and with the Ba’thist leaders seeing themselves as a vanguard mobilize workers and peasants to push development ahead. -
Electoral Processes in the Mediterranean
Electoral Processes Electoral processes in the Mediterranean This chapter provides information on jority party if it does not manage to Gorazd Drevensek the results of the presidential and leg- obtain an absolute majority in the (New Slovenia Christian Appendices islative elections held between July Chamber. People’s Party, Christian Democrat) 0.9 - 2002 and June 2003. Jure Jurèek Cekuta 0.5 - Parties % Seats Participation: 71.3 % (1st round); 65.2 % (2nd round). Monaco Nationalist Party (PN, conservative) 51.8 35 Legislative elections 2003 Malta Labour Party (MLP, social democrat) 47.5 30 9th February 2003 Bosnia and Herzegovina Med. Previous elections: 1st and 8th Februa- Democratic Alternative (AD, ecologist) 0.7 - ry 1998 Federal parliamentary republic that Parliamentary monarchy with unicam- Participation: 96.2 %. became independent from Yugoslavia eral legislative: the National Council. in 1991, and is formed by two enti- The twenty-four seats of the chamber ties: the Bosnia and Herzegovina Fed- Slovenia are elected for a five-year term; sixteen eration, known as the Croat-Muslim Presidential elections by simple majority and eight through Federation, and the Srpska Republic. 302-303 proportional representation. The voters go to the polls to elect the 10th November 2002 Presidency and the forty-two mem- Previous elections: 24th November bers of the Chamber of Representa- Parties % Seats 1997 tives. Simultaneously, the two entities Union for Monaco (UPM) 58.5 21 Parliamentary republic that became elect their own legislative bodies and National Union for the Future of Monaco (UNAM) independent from Yugoslavia in 1991. the Srpska Republic elects its Presi- Union for the Monegasque Two rounds of elections are held to dent and Vice-President. -
Won't You Be My Neighbor
Won’t You Be My Neighbor: Syria, Iraq and the Changing Strategic Context in the Middle East S TEVEN SIMON Council on Foreign Relations March 2009 www.usip.org Date www.usip.org UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE – WORKING PAPER Won’t You Be My Neighbor UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE 1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-3011 © 2009 by the United States Institute of Peace. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace, which does not advocate specific policy positions. This is a working draft. Comments, questions, and permission to cite should be directed to the author ([email protected]) or [email protected]. This is a working draft. Comments, questions, and permission to cite should be directed to the author ([email protected]) or [email protected]. UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE – WORKING PAPER Won’t You Be My Neighbor About this Report Iraq's neighbors are playing a major role—both positive and negative—in the stabilization and reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq. In an effort to prevent conflict across Iraq's borders and in order to promote positive international and regional engagement, USIP has initiated high-level, non-official dialogue between foreign policy and national security figures from Iraq, its neighbors and the United States. The Institute’s "Iraq and its Neighbors" project has also convened a group of leading specialists on the geopolitics of the region to assess the interests and influence of the countries surrounding Iraq and to explain the impact of these transformed relationships on U.S. -
Transformations in United States Policy Toward Syria Under Bashar
Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses CAHSS Theses and Dissertations and Dissertations 1-1-2017 Transformations in United States Policy toward Syria Under Bashar Al Assad A Unique Case Study of Three Presidential Administrations and a Projection of Future Policy Directions Mohammad Alkahtani Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] This document is a product of extensive research conducted at the Nova Southeastern University College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. For more information on research and degree programs at the NSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, please click here. Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Share Feedback About This Item NSUWorks Citation Mohammad Alkahtani. 2017. Transformations in United States Policy toward Syria Under Bashar Al Assad A Unique Case Study of Three Presidential Administrations and a Projection of Future Policy Directions. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Conflict Resolution Studies. (103) https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/103. This Dissertation is brought to you by the CAHSS Theses and Dissertations at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. -
April 22, 1980 Minutes of Conversation Between Todor Zhivkov and Hafez Al-Assad, Damascus
Digital Archive digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org International History Declassified April 22, 1980 Minutes of Conversation between Todor Zhivkov and Hafez Al-Assad, Damascus Citation: “Minutes of Conversation between Todor Zhivkov and Hafez Al-Assad, Damascus,” April 22, 1980, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Central State Archive, Sofia, Fond 1-B, Record 60, File 264. Translated by Assistant Professor Kalina Bratanova; Edited by Dr. Jordan Baev and Kalin Kanchev. Obtained by the Bulgarian Cold War Research Group. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/112728 Summary: The two leaders talk about recent developments in the Middle East, US-Arab relations, and Soviet support for Arab regimes. Original Language: Bulgarian Contents: English Translation Scan of Original Document Minutes of Conversation between Todor Zhivkov and Hafez Al-Assad Damascus, 22 April 1980 OFFICIAL TALKS Between the First secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Todor Zhivkov and the Secretary General of the Arab Socialist Party /Ba'th/ and President of the Arab Republic of Syria Hafiz Al-Assad [1], The talks were attended by: From the Bulgarian side: Petar Mladenov [2] , CC BCP Politburo member and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Andrey Lukanov[3] , CC BCP associate-member and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers; Milko Balev[4] , CC BCP Secretary and Chief of comrade T. Zhivkov's office; Vassil Tzanov[5] , CC BCP member and Chairman of the National Agrarian Industrial Union; George Pavlov, CC BCP member and Chairman of the Bulgarian part of the Joint Bulgarian–Syrian Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation; and Stefan Mitev, Ambassador of the PR Bulgaria to Syria. -
Iraq Missile Chronology
Iraq Missile Chronology 2008-2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003-2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 Last update: November 2008 As of November 2008, this chronology is no longer being updated. For current developments, please see the Iraq Missile Overview. 2008-2006 29 February 2008 UNMOVIC is officially closed down as directed by UN Security Council Resolution 1762, which terminated its mandate. [Note: See NTI Chronology 29 June 2007]. —UN Security Council, "Iraq (UNMOVIC)," Security Council Report, Update Report No. 10, 26 June 2008. 25 September 2007 U.S. spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox claims that Iranian-supplied surface-to-air missiles, such as the Misagh 1, have been found in Iraq. The U.S. military says that these missiles have been smuggled into Iraq from Iran. Iran denies the allegation. [Note: See NTI Chronology 11 and 12 February 2007]. "Tehran blasted on Iraq Missiles," Hobart Mercury, 25 September 2007, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; David C Isby, "U.S. Outlines Iranian Cross-Border Supply of Rockets and Missiles to Iraq," Jane's Missiles & Rockets, Jane's Information Group, 1 November 2007. 29 June 2007 The Security Council passes Resolution 1762 terminating the mandates of the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the IAEA in Iraq. Resolution 1762 also requests the UN Secretary General to dispose safely of archives containing sensitive information, and to transfer any remaining UNMOVIC funds to the Development Fund for Iraq. A letter to the Security Council from the Iraqi government indicates it is committed to respecting its obligations to the nonproliferation regime. -
Chronology of Events in Iraq, June 2003*
* Chronology of Events in Iraq, June 2003 June 1 Gun amnesty declared. (Kurdistan Democratic Party newspaper Khabat) The two weeks' notice given by the coalition forces to the population to hand over weapons and ammunitions in Iraq, started. Everyone can put his gun in a plastic bag and bring it to the Iraqi police centres. According to a statement by the coalition forces, anyone who carries gun in the streets, except a pistol, which has been allowed, after the two weeks notice will be immediately arrested and punished. It was stated that people can possess rifles like Kalashnikovs at home, but they are not allowed to carry them in the markets. Ba’athist killed in Basra. (Al-Jazeera satellite TV) A former army colonel who worked for the security agencies was targeted and killed on the Umm-Qasr-Basra road. June 2 Food rationing resumes in Iraq. (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFE/RL Iraq Report) Millions of Iraqis began collecting food rations as the UN World Food Program restarted the distribution of monthly ration packages in Iraq after two months. The rations will be given to Iraqi citizens who present pre-war ration cards. Around 60 percent of Iraqis were dependent on monthly rations under the deposed Baath regime. The UN distributed the rations from 1996 until the start of US-led war under the oil-for-food program, which is currently being phased out under UN Security Council Resolution 1483. Tension between Arabs and Kurds in Daquq region. (Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Jamawar) It was reported by Kurdish sources that after the Arabs who had been brought to the Daquq province within the context of the Arabization process had fled, and the Kurds returned to their properties and homes, some Arabs once again intend to fight their way back to those regions. -
The Taif Accord and Lebanon's Struggle to Regain Its Sovereignty
American University International Law Review Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 3 1990 The aiT f Accord and Lebanon's Struggle to Regain its Sovereignty Sandra M. Saseen Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/auilr Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Saseen, Sandra M. "The aiT f Accord and Lebanon's Struggle to Regain its Sovereignty." American University International Law Review 6, no. 1 (1990): 57-75. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in American University International Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE TAIF ACCORD AND LEBANON'S STRUGGLE TO REGAIN ITS SOVEREIGNTY Sandra M. Saseen* INTRODUCTION There are no hopeless situations; there are only men who have grown hopeless about them. Clare Boothe Luce Fifteen years of civil war and foreign military intervention in Leba- non has resulted in a terrible loss of human life, many casualties, and massive physical destruction.' Lebanon is a country occupied by two states, Syria2 and Israel,3 and victimized by two revolutions.' Israel and Syria are antagonists who limit the violence of their confrontation to Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Palestinian and Iranian revolutions have fo- * J.D. Candidate, 1990, Washington College of Law, The American University. The author wishes to express her gratitude to Professors Claudio M. Grossman and Nicholas N. -
Country Advice Syria Syria – SYR36679 – Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) – Abdul Halim Khaddam 15 June 2010
Country Advice Syria Syria – SYR36679 – Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) – Abdul Halim Khaddam 15 June 2010 1. Please provide information on the Social National Syrian Party – aims, objectives, formation, leaders in 2007 and around that time, and any information on the way it was viewed by the Syrian government in 2006/2007 and the way any members are currently viewed. Note: Information specifically on the Syrian Social National (or Nationalist) Party (SSNP) in Syria was difficult to find. Most sources discuss the party in Lebanon with only passing reference to Syria. Aside from a couple of media articles, and a brief entry in political handbooks, the only recent detailed report found which discusses the party in Syria as well as Lebanon is a 2007 article by Eyal Zisser in the journal Die Welt des Islam (The World 1 of Islam). The SSNP was established in 1932 by Lebanese Christian (Greek Orthodox), Antun 2 Saada. Described as “radical and secular” , the party’s primary goal was the creation of “Greater Syria”, encompassing what is today Syria, Lebanon, Palestine/Israel, and 3 Jordan. The SSNP was one of the main rivals to the now-ruling Ba’ath party in Syria in the early 1950s, following the country’s independence in 1946. After a senior Ba’athist officer was assassinated by a SSNP member in 1955, the party was suppressed by the 4 Syrian military authorities and “virtually disappeared from the Syrian political scene”. The SSNP remained active in Lebanon, and its armed militia in Lebanon became a proxy 5 of the Syrian government during the Lebanese civil war.