Abstract: The Syrian Civil War entered its ninth year in 2019. The intractable conflict has been fueled and expanded by the world’s largest military powers supporting their proxies inside Syria, notably the United States and Russia. Russian and American allies have also played pivotal roles; Iran notably took sides with Syria and Russia, while the United Kingdom, France, and large and small Sunni Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, and others allied with Western interests against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and his government. Others in the region play smaller, ancillary roles, such as Lebanon and Israel. Kurds inside and outside Syria have their own motives and desires for independence.
The initial uprising by Syrians who simply wanted to live under democratic rule was usurped by powers large and small, all intent on achieving their own goals and preserving and protecting their own interests. The result of these multiple outside powers has exacerbated the enormous suffering of the Syrian people far beyond what a civil war would have caused, including the death of over one half-million Syrians, many of them civilians, the decimation of cities and towns, the uprooting of millions of people which has created a refugee crisis that has impacted the entire world, the near elimination of the Christian population, the rise of terrorism, and multiple other impacts on the people and culture that will last for generations.
Keywords: Syria, war, belligerents, foreign, conflict, refugees, Alawite, al-Bashar.
Title: THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL MILITARY INTERVENTION ON SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
Author: Professor Shaul M. Gabbay
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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