Dennis HarrisSyria Essay Draft

11/10/16

When it comes to global conflicts that are prevalent in our society today the crisis in

Syria is of very valid concern. This conflict can be brought back to decisions made many years

ago stemming from the US’s involvement within Iraq and those events following those critical

decisions. Aside from the US, many other Eastern states have been interacting with Syria, and

for good reason, as they are within close borders of the location and very acceptable to the

proceedings that come with what is happening today. The information gathered from this

particular topic can expanded upon to great length, however, that is not what this writing is

about. Instead, I will be breaking down the Syrian crisis into different prospects pertaining to

international relations regarding the questions; how did this threat come into being, what is the

global threat, how would an actor such as the US respond to this threat, why is this relevant to us

as a nation, and how would different IR theories handle and access this situation as a whole.

Within these posed questions I believe that it is important that I begin by explaining how this

crisis came into being in the first place.

Syria in itself can be a very difficult issue to explain due to its origins and how the

neighboring states interact with it in today’s current events. It becomes even more difficult when

incorporating the group of the (ISIS) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant into the equation and

their many different followings. You can pull information from all over the web giving reason

as to how this crisis came into being, but given what we have learned so far it can be somewhat

brought back to global intervention. Time and time again, we have learned that not all states can

have a global agreeance on certain topics, especially when discussing issues such as terrorism

and safety, as Weiss stated in his article regarding world governance. This ideology essentially

can be related to our interaction with Iraq somewhere around 2003, and our interaction with the

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11/10/16hopes of stopping the spread of terrorism to other parts of the world after learning about their so

called nuclear weapons that they had obtained. Our intervention was backed by many different

actors as well, such as the UN, which created a common goal of taking down Iraq’s power.

Finally, and most recently, this dissolving of Iraq’s power brought upon the creation of ISIS and

their strive towards dominance as they push towards Syria with force. This is a very vague

breakdown of how ISIS was created, and currently Syria has been the topic of discussion

between many different actors. This series of events relates closely to a domino-like effect that

could be expanded upon for quite a while, however I thought it was of importance to give a very

brief rundown of how ISIS came into being. James Fallows, author on the subject of Iraq and our

interaction, states that a very key point in this history is that the US only decided to move into

Iraq due to the information about the weapons, because they could possibly cause a threat to our

country. We could say that we did it for the good of the other countries, but I believe that it is

very relevant to our society today and how we only seek to keep ourselves safe. We care about

what other countries think about us because it has an effect on how we trade and protect

ourselves, but in the end each country has its own interest in mind. With this in mind, it is

important to wonder how an actor such as the US should respond to this threat, and the

precautions we should take in order to properly protect ourselves as well as the other

surroundings states.

As of now the US is not at war with Syria and has not set forth any major decisions to do

so. However, with the increasing amount of refugees escaping to Iraq, Turkey and France; as

well as the increasing worry of terrorism to be spread even further, it is of importance to both the

surrounding states, as well as those outside of that area to solve this problem as best as they can.

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Dennis HarrisSyria Essay Draft

11/10/16In this day and age, global affairs are a very difficult thing to avoid, regardless if there is an

ocean between you or not, and we have stated before that these decisions effect all actors within

the international world, regardless of where we are located. France is currently at war with ISIS

and is having great difficulties through their use of military action as stated in Karen

Armstrong’s article. Armstrong researched the French President, Hollande’s, ability to handle

the situation regarding Syrian refugees and the impending terrorism that is inflicting locations

within France as of late. However, the use of military action as they have been doing is not

working in their favor; instead Hollande seeks to integrate the Muslim population through

domestic policy, which has yet to show its results. With this in mind, I do not believe that it

would be wise for the US to just sit back and watch Syria and other states be torn apart. If we

want to diffuse the problem I believe that the best way to do so is to work together with the states

that we trust, such as Turkey. This can be tied back to how through the similarity of common

goals, cooperation can lead to success, as Keohane stated (Keohane 39). We are ultimately

working towards the same goal; that being to minimize the spread of terrorism, and through the

use of our resources, it might be possible to achieve this goal. The article we read by Kupchan

refers to the idea that cooperation leads to stability and possibly collective security because of

this “all against one” sort of system. Through unifying our powers, we might be able to work

past the Syrian issues and bring more support to those in need of it. Aside from this, we have

discussed before with the articles and documentaries, such as Kitipovs, regarding Africa and

their process to become more modernized. Kitipov states that the EU had a very difficult time

balancing the policies and goals of the EU and African leaders in order to create a healthy

cooperation (Kitipov 41). However, that cooperation between states is needed especially within

places such as Syria, because without it, it could possibly create more harm than good, as we

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Dennis HarrisSyria Essay Draft

11/10/16have seen before. Through this cooperation, the damages will be minimized and will create very

little room for parties to get upset with one another, hopefully. Government has stated that a

solution to the refugee problems would be to allow Syrians into our country who pass screening

for possible terrorist ties, as stated within DePillis’s Washing Post article. However, I do not

think that this would be the best choice, as seen through France’s problems. As we have seen in

locations such as Paris, it is possible that Syrian refugees have become involved in attacks

towards other countries that they are admitted to. I do not believe that we can risk the danger of

this happening to us, regardless of how self-interested it is. In doing this, it also essentially

avoids the issue and instead moves it into somewhere much closer to home. The idea of sending

troops into Syria is of great debate upon US citizens even today, and although it is a very split

divide, I believe that through the cooperation of states we can ease the troubles of the problems

in Syria. With this in question, it is also very important to understand why this matters to us,

even though Syria is quite a distance away.

Before researching the topic, I always questioned why this crisis affected us in our

position in the world, and Ashley Fantz, author of a CNN article regarding how Syria should

matter to Americans shed some light as to how this might be of importance to us. Fantz talked

about how it could affect our economy through oil and the possibility that terrorism could have

more room to operate if ISIS takes over what they want, but I believe that a big reason as to why

it should matter would be our global reputation as well. As we discussed in class, most countries

care about what others think about them, because it has a direct effect on how we can interact

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11/10/16with one another, and how we are perceived when cooperating in a global environment. If we

are not seen as a country that can work well with others in the global field, then it is highly

unlikely that they will put faith in our decisions, which can be of great concern when discussing

delicate topics such as Syria. Fantz states that we do not have the type of consistency within

foreign policy that most countries depend upon and that can be somewhat worrying to those who

are trying to cooperate with us. This can also be brought up when discussing Russia and their

bombings in Syria. Robert Fisk, states that Russia is bombing locations in Syria trying to locate

“moderates”, that the US has already stated do not exist anymore. Russia has no faith that the

US is correct about this information, so in response to that they follow their own decisions

backed by the Syrian government, instead of doing what is probably best for the state of Syria.

The reputation of the US is of great concern, for even people who reside within the country. As

Lous Proyect states, Kissinger, an American diplomat says that “the U.S. does not have

permanent friends or enemies, only interests” (Provect). It is truly worrying when statements

such as this come up, and can only be seen as a step backwards in the global cooperation field for

the US. As Peet stated, our global space is getting much smaller (Peet 1), and with the

decreasing space to handle affairs it is of importance that we get along with as many people as

we can in order to prosper. To close off the discussion, I believe that it would be of great

importance to get some perspective as to how the three IR theories processed this situation and

how each would handle the threat.

The realist perspective is a very straight forward set of ideas that see things for how they

really are; almost like a pessimistic approach in some ways. In regards to the Syria problem, the

first thing that realists would state is that war is inevitable. This is backed by Mearsheimer’s

idea that there is no natural harmony of interest in the world. Essentially, no two groups work

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11/10/16together to accomplish a common goal, because we are all self-interested and will only seek to

better ourselves. In response to my solution a realist would most likely think that cooperation

would lead to failure because states will not want to cooperate unless they benefit directly from

the operation they handle. Border states of Syria would gain the safety and economic benefits,

and the US would gain the economic benefits, and reputation. We are working towards these

goals, and perhaps a realist would believe that we are using other actors in order to obtain these

benefits.

In contrary to the realist perspective, a liberal would be more so interested in cooperation

between institutions and the ability to communicate between organizations. This would directly

coincide with my theory and support the idea that international systems create opportunities for

cooperation. Keohane, in response to Mearshemer’s theory of realism, responds claiming that

cooperation promotes lasting peace, but is not always necessary in some situations, and has the

ability to be viable if the two states have common interest (Keohane 39). As we have discussed

before working together in Syria would be in most state’s common interest because of the harm

that can be stemmed from the crisis if not resolved through cooperation.

Finally, a constructivist would most likely question why Syria is in this position in the

first place. As I have stated before in the beginning of the discussion, Syria’s problems were, in

a way, a product of previous issues that arose within the area around it. Wendt, states that

anarchy is what we make it, and that states exist within a world of their own making, as seen in

Syria. We may have added to the problem, but the initial problems made way for global

problems that set the entire world in fear.

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Dennis HarrisSyria Essay Draft

11/10/16Syria in itself is a very complex topic to discuss, and has many factors as to how it got

into the way it is today. With this being true, it is important to realize that the issues that are

taking place out East have very important significance and have the ability to affect us globally,

economically, and militarily. However, through the use of cooperation and common interest we

could possibly have the ability to lessen the problems and create a safer location for those states

that border Syria as well as Syrian citizens themselves sometime within the near future.

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Dennis HarrisSyria Essay Draft

11/10/16Citations

Wendt, A. (1992) Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics. International Organization, vol. 46, n.2, pp. 391-425

Theory in Action: Constructivism (Caleb Gallemore) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYU9UfkV_XI

Theory in Action: Realism (Randall Schweller) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKEFSVAiNQ

Theory in Action: Liberalism (J.D. Bowen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZbDMUaqwE8

Charles A. Kupchan and Clifford A. Kupchan, “ Concerts, Collective Security, and the Future of Europe,” International Security, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1991), pp. 114-144/United Nations Charter (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/unchart.htm)

Peet, “The World Bank,” pp. 127-177

Weiss, T.G. (2000). What Happened to the Idea of World Government? International Studies Quaterly, vol. 53, pp. 253-271

Unit Review: Keohane, R. O. (1988) International Institutions: Two Approaches. International Studies Quarterly, vol.32, n.4, pp. 379-396

John Mearsheimer, “The False Promise of International Institutions,” International Security, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1994)

Kitipov, J. (2012). African Integration and inter-regionalism: the regional economic communities and their relationship with the European Union, Strategic review for southern Africa, vol. 34, pp. 21-44.

https://theweek.com/articles/589924/brief-history-isis

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/05/three-big-ways-the-u-s-could-help-syrians-without-using-the-military/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/were-syrian-refugees-involved-in-the-paris-attacks-what-we-know-and-dont-know/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/10/world/syria-why-care/

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/11/spread-wahhabism-and-west-s-responsibility-world

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/06/why-obama-did-not-make-war-on-syria/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/the-right-and-wrong-questions-about-the-iraq-war/393497/

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11/10/16http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-s-moderates-have-disappeared-and-there-are-no-good-guys-a6679406.html

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/11/spread-wahhabism-and-west-s-responsibility-world

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