Syria Revolution - Essay Example

Unit Syria Revolution Syria is a country in the Middle East which borders turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel. Revolution is the change in power in a nation which can be enhanced by political indifferences, pressure of the opposition or internal and external conflict. The revolution in Syria was known as the Syrian uprising, the conflict was between the loyal forces of the Ba’ath government and those eying power from outside (ibpus.com 78). This revolution began on15th March 2011 and spread nationwide by April 2011 hence becoming part of the wider protest in the Middle East known as the Arab Uprising (Sparr 7-10). Its aim was facilitated by the urge to withdraw the government of president Bashar al-Asad out of office, whose family has held presidency since 1971; they also wanted to end the Ba’ath Party rule which was started in 1963. Being a democratic republic under the power of President Bashar Al- Asad together with his advisors, members of the ruling party, his ministers, the president made major decisions and was also in charge of the ruling party. Together with his party leaders, the president governs all the three branches of government , he was given the mandate to rule the country for his second term of seven years in a “yes or no” referendum that was unfair in the eyes of human rights advocates both locally and internationally. Military was deployed to bring to an end the uprising hence using firearms on the demonstrators across the country, this lead to an armed rebellion which comprised of volunteer civilian and defected solders from the government. According to the report of the United Nations released on September 2013, more than one hundred and twenty thousand died in the process while thousands of protestors are rotting in jail and there are reports of terror and torture in the state prisons. The Syrian government is given reinforcement by Russia and Iran, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar supports the rebels with weapon. The reason for the uprising started when President Bashar al-Assad came to power in the year two thousand immediately after his father Hafez dead, who had lead Syria since 1970. This dictatorial system of government had only one party system which left few means for political differences, the nation had no peaceful transfer of power since 1950 and for change to take place only a military coup or an uprising was to take place, because the mercies of the country felt oppressed, humiliated and deprived their right to have the leader of their own choice. The Ba’ath party was regarded as the initiator of the “Arab socialism” that tried to merge the state leading economy with Pan –Arab nationalism; the ideology of the Baathist was reduced to nothing, this was facilitated by damaging its reputation by making its economy to became weak and losing the wars against Israel. The reforms of the vestige socialism made the doors wide open to personal venture enhancing and broadening consumerism along with the upper and middle classes and neglecting those favored with links to the Assad government, by this uneven economy was created which latter triggered the uprising as the cost of living got high and job became scarce (Anon 1). Persistent drought devastated farming in the north eastern Syrian community which totally relied on farming lead thousand of Syrian people to suffer hunger, due to lack of stability in the Syrian government more than a million suffered since 2008, by this many individuals from the hit area went to urban in search of their daily bread, lack of employment in town led them to become frustrated ending up in mushrooming of slums. This population was angered by lack of help from their government and this fueled anger and hate of their mother country hence being eager to over throw their government. Rapidly growing population lead to the emergence of young and energetic people in the nation, due to lack of employment this created a demographic time bomb in the country which was to explode anytime. Lack of productive public sector as well as private sectors which were unable to absorb millions youth to the job market, made them to yearn for change in the government hence joining the rebelling groups. News media such as use of mobile phones, internet and satellite TV facilitated the network of the activist hence leading to the uprising of the Syrian government (BBC, 1). Emergence of corrupted government sectors lead to struggle and suffering of its mercies, license to learn a business was highly charged no matter the type of business being intended to be started; this was a blow to those without good contact and money. Corruption was so evident to an extent that government forces were selling weapons to the anti-Assad rebels, and well up families bribed the authority for the release of their detained members during the uprising. The state fear was the greatest reason why Syrians took the regime as their way of survival but response of the brutal security forces to the peaceful protest made thousands to join the uprising without fear, creating a motto that stated ‘More funerals, more protest’. Having in Mind majority of the country are Sunni Muslim and the ruling government is in the hands of the Alawis, many Sunni believed that there is monopoly of power in the hand of Alawis families hence a driving force for the uprising. Due to the ideological difference of the two communities hate and resentment rouse to high level creating a bomb to explode anytime. The Tunisia effect which was aired live to broadcasting satellite channel Al Jazeera made millions of protestant to believe that change was possible. Syria rebel lead to its economic draw back hence making the cost of living to be high, this was created by: Higher prices of oil; the prices of oil and oil related goods have gone higher in the last eighteen month and it is prospected that if war continues the prices is expected to spike further hence interfering with the market globally as cost of product hikes, even though it is not the major oil producing country in the world. Due to the attack of the Kirkuk oil pipeline which has been targeted six times in the month of August there is fear that Iraq which is the second largest oil producer in the world would cut the volume of oil to the market worldwide hence raising prices, countries neighboring Syria such as Jordan, Lebanon are vulnerable to foreign currency force this will be lead by them having difficult covering the cost of imports if Syrian conflict continues. Those countries who relays mainly on imports of commodities for Syria, their economy is also expected to drop down. International trade is likely to be affected by this crisis as trade routes such as major ports in the Cargo traffic via Suez Canal and in the Golf are likely to be interrupted if there will be any military intervention in those areas; this threats increases disorders that could even send the rate of insurance to skyrocketing and hence hindering the passage of goods via the port of Lebanon to Beirut. Apart from the major oil producers tied to Syria and on the oil market other countries could observe additional countries on their economy due to Syria strife, for example Turkey is suffering from a tough management of existing account deficit and this will spur political instability in countries as well as oil prices hikes. In conclusion therefore Syria revolution is not only creating political instability amongst its self but also to other independent countries more so the ones relying on their produce for example, oil. Syria nearing the Golf and the Suez Canal can hider trade all over the world as many goods pass through the areas by the sea to other countries. This instability will trigger negative growth to those countries relying from Syria’s oil, as oil plays a major part in the economy of a country. Peace being supreme in any sovereign country needs to be maintained and respected and this is made possible by respecting the dignity of the peoples regardless of their race, tribe and religion. Work Cited Sparr Stephen. Revolt in Syria: Eye-witness to the Uprising. London: Hurst Publishers, 2012, Print BBC. Syria chemical attack: Key UN findings. 17 Sep, 2013. BBC. 27, Nov. 2013. Anonymous. Why Obama Is Being Pulled Into Syrian Conflict. The Most Important Reason Can Be Summarized in One Word: Iran. Wall Street Journal. 26, Aug. 2013, Web ibpus.com eds. Syria Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. Michigan. Intl Business Publications, 2013. Read More