Bashar al Assad's Rise to Power.
Introduction
As seen on television, Syria is in disarray and in the midst of a deadly conflict. This conflict did not appear out of nowhere. In fact, this Syrian Civil war is the result of a variety of historic and contemporary factors. In the middle of a grosme civil war, Syria is experiencing consistent intervention by world powers like the United States of America and Russia, a variety of human rights abuses and the ever growing threat of islamic extremist in the region. Too many political scientist and historians Due to foreign intervention, a political power vacuum, religious strafe and the Arab Spring it isn't surprising to political scientist and historians that all of these factors have contributed
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Towards the beginning of the cold war both the Americans and the Soviets had their crosshairs on the Middle East due to its geographical and resources as of which rendering the Middle East as a important asset. As the Soviets expanded their, territory the Americans implemented a strategy known as comainment which would consist of propping up capitalist governments funding insurgent groups and funding new markets. As the Americans assisted in the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council it also overthrew of the Iranian government. Moreover the soviets installed a Iraqi puppet regime, funded a fundamentalist Iranian government and backed the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party during the Syrian Crisis. .[David W. Lesch]. Moreover the Arab Baath Party was a national socialist party who placed a pro soviet Colonel in charge of the Syrian armed forces and scuff july pulled of a coup in 1963 thus putting All Thought the cold lasted 45 years its apparent that its effects may last a …show more content…
As of which when Hafez met his demise Bashar came outta of nowhere and was installed as the new leader of Syria. Even though the former dentist had no experience in leading a country he was a sign of new hope. As time passed it was apparent that Bashar was as cruel if not crueler than his father. Yet with this spontaneous introduction of power Bashar Al Assad during the Syrian Civil war he inserted his new found power by starving millions of his own citizens {Alex
Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of modern time. The “Syrian Civil war Began in March of 2011, between rebel brigades and government force; economy and infrastructure is destroyed” (Library, 2016). “Divisions between secular and religious fighters, and between ethnic groups, continue to complicate the politics of the conflict” (Corps, 2016). Additionally, the Syrian civil war has taken a significant
I am writing to you today as a student at the College of William and Mary. I am in an International Security class and recently we studied the events occurring in Syria. As you are well aware, the situation in Syria has been dramatically deteriorating in recent months with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the recent entrance of Russia into the conflict. Syria, meanwhile, has been in the midst of a ravaging civil war since the early spring of 2011. Currently, the government of Syria is led by President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, a branch of the same Ba’ath Party that Saddam Hussein was also a member of. This similarity may lead some to think that Syria will end up like Iraq, with a
The Syrian Civil War is no different. There are two opposing views that feel strongly about what they are fighting for and the war is having a major effect on the country’s infrastructure and rate of development. However, only time will tell if any good will come out of the country’s civil war.
Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.
Syria is currently all over the news regarding what many have to come to see as a civil war. A term like civil war needs to identify the players and the reasons for the war. In this case the players are being identified as pro government or antigovernment with a Sunni or Shia overtone. Sunni and Shia are the two major sects of Islam and both have a historical based conflict going back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad and how Muslims should be governed. This conflict has caused tensions and violence to flare up throughout Islamic history. This conflict has carried into modern times and has becoming a rallying point for Muslim people calling for change with their government and across the Middle Eastern region. The
Another specific conflict area that this paper will examine is Syria. The area, today known as Syria, is in a unique location which has made it subject to many empires, including the Roman and Ottoman. Since the area has been at the center of history for thousands of years it is home to a diverse ethnic and religious culture. Currently the country is home to “Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Arab Sunnis, the last of who make up a majority of the Muslim population,” (BBC). Prior to World War I, the area was under control of the Ottoman Empire, after the war the empire was broken up and France took control of the area. In 1946, France granted Syria independence, and the country has been dealing with political instability ever since. From 1958-1961, Syria joined up with Egypt to create the United Arab Republic. The following years brought about a succession of upheavals within the government. In the 1960’s the Arab-nationalist group, Baath, took over power, and in 1970 one of their leaders, Hafiz al-ASAD, took control, which brought about political stability. In 1967 there was a war taking place between Israel and Syria, which resulted in Israel occupying a southwestern region of the country. In 1970, Syria’s neighbor of Lebanon broke out into civil war and Syria extended their military power into that country. The Baath government has been known to be a strong authoritative power and has powerful anti-western policies in place that
For Hafez al-Assad just like in any other fair country the eligible voters must support or not the candidacy. Fortunately, for him a majority of the votes were on his favor with a 97 percent. According to the new formula concept, the old conservative parties would recover and integrate under the National Progressive front. Unfortunately, for Assad never took place due to security concerns in the country. Al-Assad authoritarian regime lasted for thirty years; he developed order and stabilized the government during his period. Most of his negative publicity came from over staff, mediocre public service and the ongoing Israel conflict. Hafez Al- Assad past on 10 June 2000, and his son Bashar Al Assad was delegated to assume the presidency of Syria quickly after the constitution was amended to drop the age requirement from 40 years minimum to 34 years of age. This revision allowed Al-Assad (son) to assume
There, he was educated at the French-Arab al-Hurriyet school and continued on to medical school, specializing in ophthalmology ("Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria"). After graduated the Tishrin Military Hospital in 1992, he moved to the United Kingdom to further his medical education, he was there when his elder brother, Bassel, died. On returning to Syria, he was placed in the military and quickly rose through its ranks. When his father died, the Constitution was amended to change the minimum age of presidency from 40 to 34, the age Bashar was at the time. “The Assembly nominated him for the presidency within days of his father's death. . .Bashar [al-]Assad received, according to Syrian press reports, 97% of the vote” ("Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria"). He changed many reforms, reeling back on the laws on that restricted free speech and press, he had freed hundreds of political prisoners, and encouraged people to speak to him about new changes they seek in government. He made changes in liberalizing the economy and had vowed US $1 billion to the job unemployment sector, that had reached a high of 20% in Syria. He even had aims to resolving Syria’s relations with other countries like Israel and the rest of the Arab world, even applying for the membership of the World Trade Organization (“Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria"). For a few years, the future of Syria seemed optimistic, the
Today the international committee and other nations around the world argue whether or not President Bashar-Assad of Syria ought to step down from his position as leader of the Syrian people.it’s not too late to save Syria from falling apart.
Bashar Al- Assad has been president for the past fifteen plus years. Under his leadership the country has ended up in turmoil. Bashar Al- Assad is the source of the problem. He can not be apart of the solution. His leadership is not the key to stabilizing Syria and fighting terrorist groups. It is the obstacle. President Bashar Al- Assad's government has killed more people then the Islamic State (ISIL).
It is important to understand the foundation of the crisis in Syria not only for the benefit of the people within its boarders, but also due to the repercussions it causes in territories outside of them. The Syrian civil war has drawn the influence of many world leaders, and is causing global tensions due to overlapping interests. The intertwined web of conflict makes it almost impossible to explain the situation at hand, and even the most educated find it difficult to wrap their heads around the dispute. The three big W’s—who, what, and why—should
The Civil war in Syria is not like typical internal conflicts due to the sheer number of different groups fighting in the same small territory. Primarily, this is a fight for power in the nation of Syria and each group has a special affinity for the land. This has led to a power struggle in the small area, and the people of the nation, whether they are fighting or not, are all suffering in different ways. There are some who have chosen to fight for their cause. They are not the majority, however. Many, half of the country in fact, have been displaced and forced to walk miles, in temperatures estimated more that 120 degrees fahrenheit, from their home country to refugee camps after suffering directly and immensely in their own homes. Not
Syria has always been a country filled with violence, poverty, and instability. From 1946, when it gained its independence from France, there has always been turmoil and political unrest in the country. The Ba’ath Party’s regime began formally in 1966, although similarly minded factions had control since 1947, and it marked the first stable Syrian government. Syria’s ruling political party is made up of members of the Syrian Alawite population, a minority in a predominantly Sunni country. Up until today, the Ba’ath Party has maintained iron-like control over Syria, with the Assad family leading the party and the country since 1970. Hafez al-Assad began his rule in 1970, and his son, current president Bashar al-Assad, took power after his death in 2000. When the younger Assad first came to power, the West was ready for a more moderate Syria to be created, due to the fact that Assad had a western education and at one point was studying to become an eye doctor in London, England. However, western expectations were proved to be extremely wrong, as Assad has most definitely not created a moderate Syria, and arguably he has even made the country more right-wing. He established unilateral control for himself and the Ba’ath Party multiple times by declaring states-of-emergency in Syria, and he has ruled with an even stronger grip than his father. Since the beginning of the Arab Spring, or more accurately the Long Arab Winter, Bashar al-Assad has only tightened his control, and he
According to Cleveland, the concept of ‘upheval and renewal’ can be considered a common feature for the countries in the Middle East in the 1970s. After the formation of independent states, one can notice a general tendence in Arab republics towards the consolidation of their power. This essay aims at comparing and contrasting this process in Egypt and Syria starting from 1970, year in which both countries saw the coming into power of new leaders, Anwar Sadat and Hafiz Al-Asad, and a subsequent change from the previous regime’s policies. Given the shortage of space and the complexity of the matter, the focus will be only on the most evident aspects of authoritarian power consolidation under those two leaders without going too much into
The wave of Arab unrest that began during the Tunisian Revolution reached Syria in Mid March 2011. Currently, the political, socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Syria has escalated to the