SYRIAN CIVIL WAR

In 2011, the whole world was shocked with the news of Syria where a huge
conflict happened between the loyal forces and Baath, the government of Syria as a
civil uprising occurred as a response to the regional Arab Spring, the abuse of
human rights and government corruption. Basically, it all started from regional
uprising happened in December 2010. It is called Arab Spring which is a term for a
wave of revolution in Arab world where demonstrations, protests, civil wars and riots
happen. Specifically, the main factors of this war are authoritarianism, political
corruption, human rights violations, inflation, Kleptocracy and unemployment that
involve Tunisia and Egypt. Arab Spring then comes to Syria which at first, theyre
fighting for economic and democratic reform in the political system within the existing
government. However, in response to it- the government sends their army, the Syrian
Army to quell the uprising by firing on people who take part in the demonstration
countrywide. But the Syrians dont give up. After months of being under military
control, the uprising changes into an armed rebellion. This armed rebellion is the
start of the civil war, where everything goes into chaos between the rebels and the
government. The government of Syria stand with Syrian Army, National Force,
Russia and Iran while the revolution army stand among Free Syrian Army (FSA),
Islamic Fund, USA, Qatar, Turkey, Arab and Saudi Arabia.
The world is wondering what are the real causes and factors of this war. There are
too many speculations and facts written by a lot of people that until today, we are still
confused by those mixed up information. However, there are still a few answers to
the wonders. As stated in previous paragraph, Kleptocracy is one of the main factors
why this war occurs. Basically, Kleptocracy is a form of government or political
corruption where the rulers rule not for the sake of their country but to gain power
and to increase their individual wealth. They pretend as if they are very honest in
making the country a better place to live for their people, they fight as if their hearts
are dedicated for their country but instead they are the ones who take every small
chance and advantage on everything that can feed their selfish desires. Usually
these people control their countrys treasury as if it is theirs; they buy luxury things
and sometimes transfer some of the fund to their personal bank account that they
have secretly set. On the other hand, with the power they have- they control their
country and the people by making their own rules and start their own revolution. The

taxes are getting higher, the prices of goods are increasing and the funds that are
earmarked for public amenities and the citizens who need them sometimes never get
to them. The effects are to the citizens themselves, their lives are getting harder
while the kleptocrats are swimming in their pool of black luxury. To be frank,
kleptocracy doesnt only happen in Syria but it happens in other countries as well. It
is not a surprise that the Syrians start an uprising to fight for a clean political system
because they have the right to do so. The dirty government puts them in a hard
situation and lower their quality of life. It is an unfortunate that the government of
Syria fights back by sending their soldiers to quell the angry citizens by firing on the
demonstrators across the nation. The cruel government somehow responds with
huge arrests, punishing and torturing the prisoners, the police starts to act brutal,
restriction of events as well as some compromises. Following to that, there are also
soldiers and polices defected to defend the protestors and then, the protest turn into
an armed rebellion.
Other than that, Alawites are also the main reason why the uprising happens.
Alawites or it is seldom known as Alawis are a prominent mystical religious group
who is almost a similar as Shia Islam but with syncretistic elements where their
beliefs are mixed up with other religions. They call themselves the followers of Ali bin
Abi Talib, which is the meaning of Alawi itself. They are Muslims but the thing is their
beliefs are different than what they are supposed to be; way far than Sunni Muslims
beliefs. Back then, Alawites and the Shiites (the followers of Shia) were persecuted
for their beliefs by the Sunni Muslim. Most people dont know that majority of the
Syrians are Sunni Muslim but their ruler, President Bashar al-Assad belongs to the
Alawite Muslim minority. Before his family was involved with politics, his father, Hafez
al-Assad was born in a poor Alawite family. Hafez then took control of Syria by rising
through is political party branch in Syria, which is Baath Party. Most of the
supporters within the Baath party came from Alawite background. Basically, majority
of Baath followers are Alawites which explains why they are hiding behind their
president when the war happens. Both of Sunni Muslim and Alawites are against
each other because of different beliefs in their religion, Islam. The Sunnis believe
that the khalifas after Prophet Mohammed are his most virtuous successions. On the
other side, Alawites pursue the Shiite understanding; they claim that succession
should be according to ancestry. Based on Shiite Islam, Mohammeds only true

successor, imam, was his son-in-law Ali bin Abu Talib. However, Alawites take a step
further in the worship of Imam Ali, they add other elements in their belief such as
Christianity, tolerability of alcohol, celebration of Christmas and Zoroastrians New
Year makes Alawite Islam highly suspect in the eyes of many conventional Sunnis
and Shiites. As additional information, Shia Islam that is espoused by the Shiites
does not have many differences with Alawite and Sunni. Shiites claim themselves as
the followers of Ali just like the Alawites except that they dont practice Christianity
and so on, instead they hold on to different scripture than the Sunnis. Nonetheless,
the world knows that both Alawite and Shia are completely against the real teaching
and belief of Islam. To simplify it up, the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad does not
stand for the right belief of Islam.
In contrast to all of the factors above, it all starts from Arab Spring which is a
protest that happens in among the Arab regions that first hits Tunisia, Egypt, Libya
and Yemen. The protest somehow involves strikes, demonstrations, marches and
rallies. It is a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that
spread across the Middle East in early 2011 that starts in Tunisia. The aim of Arab
Spring protest is as an expression of subconscious resentment at the ageing Arab
autocracy, anger at the brutality of the security apparatus, unemployment, rising of
prices and corruption that followed the privatization of state assets in some
countries. In late 2010, a self-immolation of a street vendor in a local town of Sidi
Bouzid sparked mass anti-government protests. Unable to control the crowds,
president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to escape the country in January 2011
after 23 years in power. Toward the next months, Ben Alis downfall had inspired
comparable uprising across the Middle East. Tunisia entered a protracted period of
political transition as it followed Ben Alis fall down. The unsteadiness continues with
disputes over the new constitution and ongoing protests calling for better living
condition especially after parliamentary elections are won by Islamists who enters
into a coalition government with smaller secular parties in October 2010. So how it is
related to Syrian Uprising? Well, the researchers have found that the future of Arab
world is in Syrias hand which has a very close relationship or its associate, Iran. The
Assad government helps Iran in radical groups of Hamas and Hezbollah in order to
weaken Lebanon while threatening Israels refuge and Americans interest toward the
Middle East. Nevertheless, U.S accuses Iran of managing Syrias repression to prop

up the tentative ally. Somehow, U.S acts friendly with Syria in order to achieve a
major victory in the Middle East, which explains why Washington and Tehran battling
for influence and power in the Arab world. But up to now, the only governments that
have been ousted from the Arab Spring are either U.S allies or counterterrorism
partners. Hence, is Arab Spring a success or a failure? According to all evidences
and investigations, Arab Spring is a failure only if one expected that decades of
authoritarian regimes could be easily reverse and replaced with stable democratic
systems across the county. It has also disappointed those who are hoping that the
removal of fraudulent rulers would transform into an instant improvement in living
standards. Frankly, the Syrian Uprising is still incomplete, and it has been about as
gory as the Libyan Revolution, but with no closing stages in view and very few
foreign involvement. President Assad has used his forces on an almost daily basis to
kill rebels and protesters there and he refuses to negotiate with them. At the
moment, it seems like the fighting in Syria could go on for a very long period.