National Political - Research Paper Example

of the paper section number, and Introduction: The world is fast becoming a global village. Change in the internal circumstances of one country results in change in the dynamics of the other countries in the region. Therefore it becomes important knowing the international political realm of affairs to get a good insight into the contemporary affairs. The foreign policies of nations are substantial in this regard and it enables understanding their ideology and approach towards other nations. National policy of a country is in line with its manifesto and its aspirations towards the global relationship with outside world. National policy serves in multiple ways; it allows protecting the sovereignty of the state, presenting the state’s ideology and most importantly enables engaging into dialogue and mediation with outside world for the betterment of its economic, social and political condition. Syria is one similar country that has a clearly defined national policy and foreign policy that allows it engaging into global relations. Based on its geo strategic importance Syria holds significance for number of reasons. These reasons stretch beyond geographic, social, political factors. It has gained importance in recent times due to the ongoing events in the region. The region in itself is of high importance considering the neighboring countries and the natural location. Keeping the global impact in view, the Arab Spring that took off from Tunisia, was one similar event which engulfed fire in the neighboring countries. The aim of Arab spring was to eliminate the status quo. Since Syria also fell in the line of fire courtesy Bashar Al Asad’s status quo existence, the fire of spring penetrated deep into Syrian towns and cities; triggering a civil war. The objective of this paper is to get a familiarity with the international politics and the world scenario. This is done through an interview conducting. The interview will allow understanding different facets of a research study along with global politics and geography comprehension. The paper is divided into three major sections, the first part deals with the geographic details of Syria, the second gives an insight into the form of government in place, while the third entails Syria’s relationship with United States of America. Brief overview of the country Syria is located in the Western Part of Asia. It is a Muslim populace country with different percentages of Shiite and Sunni followers amongst them. Other nations within Syria include Christians, Kurds and some traces of Turks are also visible in the country. Geographic location is of high importance and thereby makes it center of attention in the entire world. It is in the vicinity that includes Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey as its neighboring countries and their borders are mutually shared. Mediterranean Sea lies to its West and adds another point of importance on strategic front to its location. It also shares border with Jordan and Iraq making it one of the most entangled and attached country with other regional states. Modern day existence: The modern day existence stretches back to the end of World War 1 when the mandate system was introduced for the first time under the auspices of League of Nations. Syria was given under direct protection and guidance of France(Commins, 111). This was as a result of abolishing of Ottoman Empire. The second resurrection of Syria took place in 1946 (Darke , 12) right after First World War when a sovereign republic came into existence. The size of Syria is 186,745 (square kilo meter). The total population of Syria is around 22 million. The characteristic of Syrian population is a multi cultural outlook consisting of Muslims and Christians in small amount. Syrian people are largely hospitable; they are fond of good food, traveling, outings in the local towns and cities. Their ways are depictive of Arabian culture, music is part of their culture, and so is art. Amongst the Muslims that constitute around 95 percent of population, around 70 percent are Sunnis, while the remaining are Shiite. AL Watee represents the Shiite community in Syria. Remaining percentage is attributed to Christians. The land of Syria is rich in natural resources, being in touch with Mediterranean and enjoying fertile land, it provides vast opportunities for the peasants and agricultural investments. Syrian Desert is one of the most notable places in this regard that is characteristic of that area, along with Jabal al Druze Range. Climate of Syria is relatively hot and humid for most part of the summer, it enjoys extended summers and relatively mild winters. Official language spoken in Syria is Arabic. Major cities of Syria include Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Ar- Raqqah ,Al bab , to name a few. 2nd part: Syria formally known as the Syrian Arab republic is a democratic country by the theory and practices the presidential form of government where the President is the head of the state. In practice it may not depict a true and vibrant democracy based on the numerous factors and individuals who have been in power since decades. It is a unitary republic Since coming into existence as a republic in 1946, it has had a share of perturbed democracy with coups being enforced time and again. The first decade of so were marked by continuous toppling of the democracy by the military regime. This led to the weakening of the pillar of democracy and democratic norms in the country. President is the Head of the State, while Prime Minister makes up for the Head of the government, unlike other parliamentary forms of governments and countries President holds the complete authority. All the powers are vested with the Head of the State. He decides and determines the major decisions of the country and all major actions are subject to his sanction before his approval. President is elected for a term of seven years (Stewart, 161) through referendum and he may be appointed to the office for a repeated period of time. Vote of no confidence may be brought up against the Prime Minister. Syria has two vice presidents in place who make up for the important part of the executive unit of the government. A unicameral body is in place. In theory the government so in place should be directly representative of the people, equal participation must be provided to the parties and they should be given equal opportunities of involving in the electoral processes. The President should be free from any kind of political bias and influences and must represent the state in an impartial manner. President should be answerable directly to the people. Electoral process must be further refined and transparency of polling and election system should be established. This should be accompanied by the accountability of the government. The president should be representative of the majority of the people and not from a segment that is in minority ( Al Wati community that constitutes only around 12 to 15 percent of the entire population) (Nijman, de Bli and Muller,288). Hence there is a marked difference between the type of government that is in place and the type of government that is in theory and is demanded from by the constitution. The constitution of Syria provides for clear instructions and guidelines regarding true democracy in the country. Bashar Al Asad is the president of the country at present. He came to power as successor to his father, Hafiz Al Asad. Until 2012, the country was a single party state being run by Socialist Baath party who have been in power for the last four decades. The recent elections held in 2012 allowed party based elections and enabled opposition parties participating in the elections, though the major ruling and government is still controlled by the Baath party. The rise of Baath party took place in the 1960s under Hafiz AL Asad who enforced a coup and toppled the civilian government; he later on went to elect himself as the civilian head of the state through referendum and change in the constitution allowing him the rule for becoming the civilian dictator. Hafiz Al Asad’s government lasted till 2000 (Haugbolle and Gruber, 67). Bashar Al Asad is at present running in the office of President for the second term. The Local level Structural division is based on the three main elements namely governorate, districts and sub districts entail the whole of Syria and it has been divided into this based on the administrative basis. Present day turmoil: Since March 2011 (Habeeb, 204), Syria has been in the throes of a revolution cum civil war where the rivals and militia forces have joined together and stood against the incumbent government and its president. The rift has taken shape of international conflict with international players involved in it. United States of America, France, Great Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on one side, and Iran, Russia and China on other side. the given scenario has led to massive upheaval and turbulence back home with over a million gone into refugee and around one hundred thousand killed so far. To one report and estimate over one fifty individuals are killed every day. The war is far from over with Bashar Al Asad still growing strong on the rivals. The alleged use of chemical weapons has been another debacle that has been seen in recent times (August 21st incident) that resulted in heavy loss of life. The aforementioned action has forced world community to stand up in condemnation and as a result United Nations mission has been sent to investigate the actual state of affairs and the alleged using of chemical weapons by Bashar Al Asad against the rebels who are challenging his government and authority and with backing of international forces posing serious threat and challenge to his legitimacy and authority in parts of Syria. 3rd part: Syria and United States of America has had a history of low profile relation that were never marked by too much warmth and cordial acknowledgment towards one another. This is based on number of reasons with the first most being Syria’s strained relationship with Israel, its stance over Israel Palestine conflict, its role and response towards Iraq war, and United states reaction to potential nuclear capabilities of Iran who is a warm friend with Syria. The Arab Israel war was one of the many reasons and points of conflicts between the two. The tilt of Syria towards Iran is another factor. United States has been less than friendly towards Bashar AL Asad’s regime because they believe Asad has hindered the way to transparent and true democracy in the country, and secondly his motives are hindering the overall peace in the region. The potential drive and ambition of Bashar Al Asad towards empowering itself to nukes is another bone of content for the United States. One element of similarity may be found between the two in form of the presidential form of government that is in place in the both countries where the president is the head of the state unlike the British form of democracy where the Prime Minister is the head of the state. The different lies with regard to the absolute free and transparent form of democracy that is in place in United States of America where there is equal opportunities to every individual and no citizen maybe subject to political vendetta. The backing of the rebels by the American government and its aiding in form of arsenal and economic funds are other point of disagreement and content that is not allowing good relationship between the two governments. United States supposed training of the rebels in the neighboring countries of Syria is another issue that has not augured well for the relationship between the two. United States is using its influence to oust Bashar Al Asad from power and make way for transition towards true democracy in the country where there is opportunity for equal participation to all political parties within the country. Works cited: Commins, David Dean. Historical Dictionary of Syria. Scarecrow Press, 2004. Darke, Diana. Syria. Bradt Travel Guides, 2010.Press. Habeeb, William Mark. The Middle East in Turmoil: Conflict, Revolution, and Change. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Haugbolle, Sune and Christiane Gruber. Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East: Rhetoric of the Image. Indiana University Press, 2013. Nijman, Jan, H. J. de Bli and Peter O. Muller. The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 2010 Stewart, Dona J. The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural Perspectives. Routledge, 2012. Read More