SYRIAN CRISIS: ROLE OF MAJOR POWERS

Abstract

The Syrian crisis has entered into sixth year compounded by new and old
challenges and is now more than just a battle between those for or against
President Bashar al-Assad. Peaceful procession asking democracy and greater
freedom at the beginning got agitated on the regime’s brutal action and later
demanded the president to resign. The conflict turned into an armed rebellion
within a short period which was overtly sectarian in nature between Alawitedominated
government forces, militias and other Shia groups. Opposition splited
into different groups of rebel fighters instead of having single entity. Meanwhile
an extremist group called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) started
taking over large swath of the country adding a further dimension. The political
crisis in Syria has concerned major regional and international actors in such a
way that in a short period of time, a new political alignment has taken shape
at the regional level as well as in the international arena. Two major regional
powers formed coalition i.e. Russia , Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah form the anti-
Western coalition and United States, Turkey, European Union and the Persian
Gulf countries are in the opposing side. Most importantly the conflict in Syria
has drawn in major global powers, supporting and opposing President Bashar al-
Assad and the myriad rebel groups ranged against him. Russia has been one of
Syria’s staunchest allies for decades. The US insists President Assad cannot be part
of Syria’s future. Diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria have long been
strained by major events in the region. As such Saudi Arabia provides military
and financial assistance to several rebel groups in Syria. Turkey had ambition to
project power in the region and tried to overthrow Assad by actively supporting
the armed rebellion. This study intends to find the answers of some pertinent
questions related to this most pressing conflict of present time. The study mainly
focuses on the role of major powers and how their involvement actually shaped
the war by period of time. This research also tries to identify way-out to resolve
the crisis.