Arab Spring: The Spark of Change in Tunisia & Syria - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Arab Spring, which was a political movement comprising a series of anti-government protests, was successfully started in Tunisia in 2011. The Arab Spring began taking shape in Syria on March 15th, 2011, when protestors in Damascus decided to demand democratic reforms and political freedom in Syria (Baczko, 2018). The regime decided to counter-attack such protects by ordering police officers to kill demonstrators which led to the spread of demonstrations across the country. As a result, the Arab spring demonstration against al-Assad’s Syrian government developed into an armed conflict between the government and the anti-government forces in certain towns. It later developed fully into a fully-fledged civil war. The Syrian conflict has been taking place for years now which has forced the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, and the Middle East to hold discussions on what can be done to stop it (Andersson, 2019). The Syrian war can be interpreted by the use of various perspectives in international politics and relations. Such views are capable of comprehending any action taken by the actors in the conflict and the factors that contributed to those extreme circumstances.

Syrian Conflict and Realism

Realism theory is a concept in international affairs that illustrates the actions of various actors participating in Syria’s unfolding civil war. This theory explains the strife, which still rages Syria’s map and spreads its negative impacts across the surrounding region and the world. Realism is based on three main assumptions: states are the leading players in the international sphere; states are centralized and moral players that behave according to the self-interests they wish to fulfil, driven by selfish greed; the global system is individualist (Leander, 2018). The common characteristics of realism are the requisite anarchy of the material world and the self-interest of self-centred politicians who want to be in power. According to various political scientists and realists, war is a regulated by conscious act and a resumption of political involvement by other methods.

According to this argument, states view war as a necessary means of strengthening their authority or desires, and may use it as a legitimate political instrument. Usually, a war has its origins in faulty human nature which means that people’s inappropriate behaviors will spark and trigger war. This line of reasoning somehow illustrates one justification as to why the conflict in Syria was stirred up. One of the roots of the war was Syria’s impact on the Arab Spring in which some factions of Syrians wanted to overthrow the al-Assad administration (Cordesman, 2017). Intensified protests and Syria’s violent suppression of armed units provoked counter-blows by anti-government forces, giving rise to a full-fledged civil war. Also, other countries, such as the United States and Russia, supported protests against the Syrian regime due to their interests in Syria.

Syrian Conflict and Constructivism Theory

Various aspects of the Syrian civil war can be explained with social frameworks, which include ideologies, social rules, beliefs, identities and expectations. Within constructivist philosophy, these intangible influences and their essential position in international diplomacy are emphasized. The constructivism theory seeks to understand the developments in the Syrian conflict as it illustrates how the aspirations of the players have been built up by social identities and can intensify the war (Baczko, 2018). Due to this concept, any player in international affairs such as governments, organizations, and people may have a position, and they are distinct from realism and liberalism. Interests such as legislation, regulations, and systems are usually the underlying reason that war is inflicted. Syria war is an ideology with each identity containing their perception that is unique to each one. The political strife between Islam’s Sunni and Shia groups, for example, would have sparked a war in Syria. Also, other countries feel that the Syrian regime is authoritative; hence there is a need to stop it at all costs.

Syrian Conflict and Liberalism

Liberalism theory is a comprehensible international affairs theory, and a non-utopian one. The biggest threat to realism arose from a broad collection of liberal concepts. One strand of liberal thinking proposed that economic integration would prevent states from using violence against each other as war disrupted stability for either side (Andersson, 2019). The second approach encourages the democratization as the key to peace and prosperity worldwide. A third, more contemporary estimate proposed that foreign organizations that could help mitigate greedy state behavior, mainly by enabling states to forego immediate benefits for the more significant advantages of sustained collaboration. Referring to the Syrian civil war, the leading country that expresses concern about the conflict in Syria has been the United States of America because of the tangle and disastrous situation in Syria under the dictatorial regime (Cordesman, 2017). Americans recommend that Syria should embrace a democratic political system. There should be a representative democracy transformation of the Assad regime. When such conflicts occur, there is a likelihood of evoking war by the Syrian government to protect its interests.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the three perspectives of the Syria war are essential as they enable political scientists and other researchers to understand possible triggers of conflicts. The events that led to this kind of war could have been dealt with as a way of preventing the occurrence of the war. Other actors in this kind of conflict in Syria should give the Syrians ample time to find what suits them so that the war can be stopped. The more other countries keep on interfering with the affairs in Syria, the more the likelihood of persistence of the conflict. I closely align with the realism theory since it provides more facts that explain the event that took place in the Syrian war as compared to other approaches. The method shapes my political action in that it enables me to understand the reasons as to why countries engage in wars. By understanding the causes of conflicts, it will be easy to formulate mechanisms that can prevent future wars.

References

Andersson, S. (2019). Putting Peace in the Frame: Alternative US Media Framing of the War in Syria.

Baczko, A., Dorronsoro, G., & Quesnay, A. (2018). Civil war in Syria: mobilization and competing social orders. Cambridge University Press.

Cordesman, A. H., & Nerguizian, A. (2017). The Case for and Against a “Realist” Strategy in Syria. Center for Strategic International Studies, 1-12.

Leander, A., & Della Ratta, D. (2018). Art as expertise?: Creative expression in the Syrian conflict resolution 1. In Assembling Exclusive Expertise (pp. 187-212). Routledge.