The!War!Economy!In! Syria;!Evidence!From!Three!Local!Areas!
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! Countering*the*logic*of*the*war*economy*in*Syria! ! ! ! ! Countering!the!logic!of!the!war!economy!in! Syria;!evidence!from!three!local!areas! Rim!Turkmani!with!Ali!A.!K.!Ali,!Mary!Kaldor!and!Vesna!Bojicic=Dzelilovic*.! ! ! Shop owner in besieged Ghouta selling locally developed solutions including ! gas extracted from plastic to overcome the shortage of fuel and other ! livelihood necessities in the area. ! ! 30!July!2015! ! *[email protected]!,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]! Civil!Society!and!Human!Security!Research!Unit! Department!of!International!Development! London!School!of!Economics!and!Political!Science! ! ! 1! ! Turkmani*et*al.! ! ! ! Table!of!Contents! !!!! !!!!!!!!Executive!Summary!……………………………………………………………………………………………5! 1! Introduction!.......................................................................................................!11! 1.1! Methodology,!empirical!data!and!participants!...........................................................!13! 1.1.1! Data!structuring!........................................................................................................!15! 2! Daraa!.................................................................................................................!15! 2.1! Internal!environment!................................................................................................!15! 2.1.1! Population!................................................................................................................!16! 2.1.2! Unemployment!and!Job!opportunities!.....................................................................!18! 2.1.3! Natural!resources!and!infrastructure!.......................................................................!19! 2.1.4! Agriculture!................................................................................................................!21! 2.1.5! Industry!.....................................................................................................................!22! 2.1.6! Trade!.........................................................................................................................!23! 2.1.7! Coping!economy!.......................................................................................................!24! 2.2! Area!borders!..............................................................................................................!24! 2.2.1! The!border!with!Jordan!............................................................................................!24! 2.2.2! The!Nasib!Crossing!with!Jordan!................................................................................!25! 2.2.3! Borders!with!government!controlled!areas!..............................................................!26! 2.3! Actors!........................................................................................................................!28! 2.3.1! Armed!groups!...........................................................................................................!28! 2.3.2! Local!Governance!actors!...........................................................................................!28! 2.3.3! Civil!society!...............................................................................................................!29! 2.3.4! Actors’!relations!........................................................................................................!30! 2.4! What!goes!in?!............................................................................................................!30! 2.4.1! Aid!and!its!distribution!.............................................................................................!30! 2.4.2! Cash!and!Remittances!..............................................................................................!31! 2.4.3! Fuel!...........................................................................................................................!32! 2.5! What!goes!out?!.........................................................................................................!32! 2.5.1! Antiquities!.................................................................................................................!33! 2.6! Case%study%The!Olive!Branch!agricultural!project!........................................................!33! 3! Eastern!Ghouta!..................................................................................................!35! 3.1! Internal!environment!................................................................................................!35! 3.1.1! Population!................................................................................................................!35! 3.1.2! Unemployment!and!Job!opportunities!.....................................................................!37! 3.1.3! Natural!resources!and!infrastructure!.......................................................................!37! 3.1.4! Agriculture!................................................................................................................!38! 3.1.5! Industry!.....................................................................................................................!39! 3.1.6! Trade!.........................................................................................................................!39! 3.1.7! Coping!economy!.......................................................................................................!40! 3.2! Borders!of!Ghouta!.....................................................................................................!41! 3.2.1! Tunnels!.....................................................................................................................!42! 3.3! Actors!........................................................................................................................!44! 3.3.1! Armed!actors!............................................................................................................!44! 3.3.2! Local!governance!actors!...........................................................................................!45! 3.3.3! Civil!society!...............................................................................................................!45! 3.3.4! The!'Economic!Office'!...............................................................................................!46! 3.3.5! Actors’!relations!........................................................................................................!47! 2! ! ! Countering*the*logic*of*the*war*economy*in*Syria! ! 3.4! What!goes!in?!............................................................................................................!47! 3.4.1! Currency!transfer!and!exchange!...............................................................................!47! 3.4.2! Aid!.............................................................................................................................!48! 3.4.3! Fuel!...........................................................................................................................!48! 3.5! What!goes!out?!.........................................................................................................!49! 3.6! Case%study:!Creating!employment,!Alseeraj!projects!..................................................!49! 4! Rural!Idleb!.........................................................................................................!50! 4.1! Internal!environment!................................................................................................!51! 4.1.1! Population!................................................................................................................!51! 4.1.2! Unemployment!and!Job!opportunities!.....................................................................!51! 4.1.3! Variegated!security!...................................................................................................!52! 4.1.4! Infrastructural!Resources!in!the!area!.......................................................................!52! 4.1.5! The!fight!over!infrastructure!....................................................................................!53! 4.1.6! Agriculture!................................................................................................................!53! 4.1.7! Industry!.....................................................................................................................!54! 4.1.8! Trade!.........................................................................................................................!55! 4.1.9! Coping!economy!.......................................................................................................!56! 4.2! Area!borders!..............................................................................................................!57! 4.2.1! The!border!with!Turkey!............................................................................................!57! 4.2.2! Borders!between!government!and!opposition!areas!...............................................!59! 4.2.3! Borders!with!ISIL]controlled!areas!............................................................................!59! 4.2.4! Internal!checkpoints!.................................................................................................!60! 4.3! Actors!........................................................................................................................!61!