Syria’s ordeal: A modern state’s disintegration in an age of fake news and superpower regional rivalry

William R. Stanley

doi:10.18778/2300-0562.08.04

Authors

William R. Stanley University of South Carolina, USA, Department of Geography

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-0562.08.04

Keywords:

Syria, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Arab Spring, terrorism, regional geopolitics, Kurdish problem, refugees, superpower confrontation

Abstract

The negative impact of globalization is readily observed in today’s Syria. Ravished by seven years of internal conflict stimulated initially by Tunisia’s Arab awakening, this once proud state has become a magnet for religious fanatics and their wealthy sponsors in conservative Saudi Arabia and other countries far and near seeking geopolitical advantage. Not least Syria has experienced the seemingly futile endeavors by those in the United Nations and elsewhere seeking a solution to this country’s enduring turmoil. Military intervention by Iran and Russia has changed the configuration of the conflict at the critical point in time when Israeli and American intervention provides a dangerous environment for superpower conflict. All the while, Syrians remaining in the country suffer, and those seeking safety elsewhere are threatening to destabilize Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and, farther afield, the cohesion of the European Community.

References

Al-Maghafi N., 2018, How chemical weapons have helped bring Assad to victory, BBC-BBC Arabic Panorama, October 14, 2018.
Google Scholar

Can it get together? Syria’s disparate opposition must unite if it is to topple the regime, “The Economist” (Middle East and Africa), September 3, 2011.
Google Scholar

Durham W.D, 2010, The 1920 Treaty of Sevres and the Struggle for a Kurdish Homeland in Iraq and Turkey between the World Wars, Ph.D. Dissertation Oklahoma State University, July, 2010.
Google Scholar

Fayez J.A. , 2015, The colonization of Palestine: Lest the civilized world forget, “Americans for Middle East Understanding”, New York.
Google Scholar

Fisk R., 1997, A Land in the Shadow of Death, “The Independent” (UK), January 19, 1997.
Google Scholar

Fisk R., 2006, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Google Scholar

Fisk R., 2012, Syria is used to the slings and arrows of friends and enemies, “The Independent” (UK), February 1, 2012.
Google Scholar

Hardy R., 2005, The Iran-Iraq war: 25 years on, https://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2hi/middle_/4260420stm
Google Scholar

Khalidi W., 1984, Before Their Diaspora: A Photographic History of The Palestinians 1876–1948, Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C.
Google Scholar

Laqueur W.Z., 1958, The Middle East in Transition, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Google Scholar

Laqueur W., 1969, The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, Bantam, New York.
Google Scholar

Lochner L., 1942, What about Germany?, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.
Google Scholar

Macaron J., 2018, Sochi Agrement on Idlib Tests Russan-Turkish Relation, Arab Center, Washington, D.C. October 19, 2018, http://www.ArabCenterdc.org/policy-analyses/sochi-agreement-on-idlib-tests-russian-turkish-relations/
Google Scholar

Marcus J., 2018, Is Russia taking control of Syria’s air defences?, BBC News, September 24, 2018.
Google Scholar

Milton G., 2008, Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922. The Destruction of a Christian City in the Islamic World, Basic Books, New York.
Google Scholar

Morgenthau H., 1918, Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story, Doubleday, Page & Co., New York.
Google Scholar

New Lockerbie Report says Libyan (Abdelbaset al-Megrahi) was framed to conceal real bombers, “The Independent” (London), March 11, 2014.
Google Scholar

Rebels fire shells from Syria buffer despite heavy arms pullout: activists, “The Daily Star” (Beirut), October 24, 2018.
Google Scholar

Roberts D., 1994, The Holy Land: Yesterday and Today. Lithographs and Diaries by David Roberts, R.A., The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo.
Google Scholar

Syria offers amnesty to deserters and draft dodgers, “The Daily Star” (Beirut), October 9, 2018.
Google Scholar

Syrian Rebels Hold Out in Final Enclave, “The Wall Street Journal” (World News), October 16, 2018.
Google Scholar

Trump warns Syria not to ‘recklessly’ attack Idlib Province, “The Daily Star” (Beirut), September 4, 2018.
Google Scholar

We Don’t Give a Dam – The Feud over Financing the Aswan High Dam – Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History, “Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training”, June, 2016.
Google Scholar

World War I Document Archive, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Google Scholar

http://www.hri.org./docs/king-crane-recomm.html
Google Scholar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-Crane_Commission
Google Scholar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Remo_conference
Google Scholar

https://www.balfourproject.org/the-mcmahonpromise
Google Scholar

https://www.bbc.com/new/world-middle-east
Google Scholar

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/new-lockerbie-report-says-libyan-was-framed-to-conceal-the-real-bombers-9185163.htnl
Google Scholar