As Syria’s civil war enters its third year, the country’s humanitarian crisis worsens each day and the Levant grows increasingly vulnerable to the conflict’s spillover. Unless a tactical shift in the balance of power occurs, it is unlikely that either the regime or the rebels will gain control of Syria’s entire territory, leaving open the possibility that the state will fragment along sectarian lines.
“Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pity choked” was the Bard’s searing characterization of what war visits upon the living. It is a description that increasingly parallels the ongoing war in Syria, which is likely to worsen unless the protagonists step back and search for a diplomatic solution to the 17-month-old civil war.
Almost 18 months after the onset of popular democratic protests, the Syrian revolution increasingly resembles a bloody marathon with no clear finish line on the horizon. But as Syrian society slowly disintegrates, non-aligned states from the developing world may show the way forward to a diplomatic resolution.
Turkey has become one of Bashar Al-Assad’s main enemies since Erdogan turned on his old friend in response to the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown on the opposition. But the sectarian character of Syria’s civil war has created tensions within Turkey that complicate the triangular relationship among Ankara, Damascus, and the armed Syrian opposition.
As the post-9-11 wars finally begin to end, we can shrink the Pentagon budget. Here is a three-part strategy for replacing the jobs currently dependent on military production we don’t need.