The Endgame: America’s Exit from Syria

Ever since the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria fueled civil war costing nearly half a million lives to date, the US response has been cautious indecision. Syria became a proxy war with Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, the Turks, ISIS, the Kurds, and the local Syrian opposition all competing to support or oust Assad. All but the Kurds and select Syrian resistance groups opposed America. With billions spent on questionable war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama, the American public, and most of the military establishment were leery of direct US involvement in Syria. Apart from supporting the fight against ISIS and half-hearted demands that Bashar al Assad step aside as leader of Syria, neither President Obama nor President Trump have committed US troops to achieving anything more comprehensive. Optimally, the US should encourage multilateral efforts to negotiate Assad’s removal from office with Russia, address Turkish fears of Kurdish independence, or pressure Iran and Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria. Under present circumstances facing US policymakers, such optimizing is illusory. Whatever the limits and possibilities of USFP in the region today, it is clear that America needs a tactical retreat to reconsolidate its power and purpose to fight its Russian and Iranian foes another day when the direct stakes for American interests are higher

5 minutes with Salam Kawakibi on the Syrian crisis: “while we can see many political declarations, we cannot see any real action”

The crisis in Syria continues despite the efforts of Europe and the wider international community. In an interview with EUROPP editors Chris Gilson and Julian Kirchherr, as part of our coverage of the European neighbourhood, Salam Kawakibi of the Arab Reform Initiative discusses the roots of the conflict in Syria, its regional implications and the role that Europe might now be able to play

Agonizing Choices: Syrian Refugees in Need of Health Care in Lebanon

The crisis in Syria, which entered its fourth year in March 2014, continues to take a devastating toll on the country's civilian population. More than 100,000 people have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands have suffered injuries, and civilian property and livelihoods are destroyed on a daily basis. The conflict has led to mass displacement. An estimated 6.5 million people are displaced within Syria, and 2.8 million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries and North Africa.Lebanon hosts over 1 million registered Syrian refugees, more than any other country, making it the largest per capita recipient of refugees in the world. This is in addition to hundreds of thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon without UN assistance and over 50,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria who have fled to Lebanon. Turkey hosts the second largest number of Syrian refugees, around 735,888 people, followed by Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. A small number of those fleeing Syria, some 81,000 people, have claimed asylum in the European Union (EU), Norway and Switzerland.The UN estimates that there will be over 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon by the end of 2014, which would constitute more than one third of Lebanon's population prior to the conflict in Syria.The social, economic and security strain on Lebanon resulting from hosting such a large number of people from Syria -- particularly given the country's already stressed infrastructure -- has been acknowledged by the international community. However, this has not translated into sufficient support for Lebanon. Health care, water and sanitation facilities, shelter, and other resources that were already strained have been put under further pressure due to the huge and rapid increase in population. Poverty and unemployment are expected to increase, putting financial pressure on a country which already faces one of the highest debt ratios globally.The political and security situation in Lebanon has also been deeply affected by the fighting in Syria with an upsurge in violence in border areas including Arsal in northeast Lebanon, in Tripoli in the north of the country, and in Beirut, Lebanon's capital.To help support the vast number of refugees in the country, the UN has appealed for US$1.7 billion for Lebanon in 2014, as part of a US$4.2 billion UN appeal for Syrian refugees.Yet at the time of writing, only 17% of the funding requirements for Lebanon for 2014 have been met. As a result of the lack of funding, many refugees from Syria are being left without adequate access to health care, food, shelter, water and sanitation, and education

RWU, RWU Law to Offer Scholarships to Displaced Students from Syria

University joins Institute for International Education’s Syria Consortium in helping architecture and law students to resume studies in safety

Syria: weighing the issues

New Zealand Prime Minister Key is treading cautiously on the question of whether New Zealand should support a military strike on Syria. He has spoken to United Nations Secretary, General Ban Ki-­Moon and New Zealand diplomats have been briefed by United States officials. The Prime Minister has said he is under no illusions about the seriousness of the situation in Syria and has described the use of chemical weapons as abhorrent

First description of myxozoans from Syria: novel records of hexactinomyxon, triactinomyxon and endocapsa actinospore types

Oligochaete worms collected in late March and early April 2005 from 3 freshwater biotopes in Syria were surveyed over an 11 wk period for myxosporean parasites (Myxozoa). Three types of novel actinospore stages were identified from 1 host species, Psammoryctides albicola. A hexactinomyxon was found in 6 P. albicola (7.5%) collected from a branch of the River Orontes, north of the city of Hama. A triactinomyxon and an endocapsa were found in single P. albicola specimens from the Al-Thaurah region of the Euphrates River (Lake Assad). No oligochaetes collected from Al-Ghab fish farm (Orontes region) released actinospores during the observation period. The present study is the first description of myxosporeans, including actinospore stages, from Syria. The 3 types described herein differ morphologically and molecularly (18S rDNA) from published records

Mineta Transportation Institute Says Subways Are Still in Terrorists’ Sights

The FBI arrested a California National Guard reservist on March 17 as he headed for the Canadian border on his way to Syria. Once in Syria, Nicholas Michael Teausant, who is also a student at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton CA, planned to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Although he had never attended the army’s basic training course and was in the process of being discharged by the National Guard for failing to meet “basic education requirements,” Teausant thought he could teach the Syrian jihadists shooting skills and urban warfare tactic

Syria and the Responsibility to Protect

The civilian protection agenda has tried to fill critical gaps in the existing normative architecture through the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and protection of civilians (POC) as sibling norms.1 Despite these two valuable additions to the repertoire of the international community in dealing with civilian victims of armed conflicts, many gaps remain in the protection agenda, as shown in several cases—from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar to Darfur and, most prominently this year, Syria

Antidumping: Positions, negotiations, and Relevance for Syria

Anti-dumping, WTO, Syria, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade,