Syria: A Decade Later, the War Rages On

When the Arab Spring ignited the Middle East and North Africa in late 2010, people could only speculate about the kind of impact it would have. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria could only guess that the pro-democracy movement would knock on his door. Yet in 2011,that is just what happened.  Following the detention and torture of a group of teenagers accused of political graffiti, protests erupted and the country descended into unrest. In response, the Assad regime had one message: regime change was not an option.

Bashar al-Assad took power after his father, Hafez al-Assad, died in 2000. Initially suggesting reforms after his ascension to the presidency, Assad offered a new hope for Syria and the region. Those hopes, however, were not realized. Assad suffered immense political turmoil in Syria leading up to the civil war. Severe drought, economic chaos, and unrest spread throughout the country. The status quo was no longer enough for his regime to go unchallenged. But for Assad, the costs of stepping down were too great. Since his father took power, the Assad regime has worked to empower regime loyals while suppressing the 70% Sunni majority in Syria. If Assad were to step down, he would lose all his power within the nation. At worst, his dictatorship could face harsh repercussions. Thus, Assad’s only way to guarantee his continued power and rule is to continue the civil war. 

The Syrian people, rather than Assad,  have faced most of the consequences related to war. The United Nations (UN) estimates 306,887 civilian deaths have occurred as of June 2022. Total deaths, however, have been estimated to be up to 600,000. The UN further estimates 6.7 million displaced persons internally and 6.6 million refugees. To put this into perspective, the populations of Missouri and Illinois are 6.1 and 12.7 million respectively. More than half of the refugees have fled to neighboring Turkey, with Lebanon and Jordan hosting the next most refugees. Europe and the United States have decried the Syrian refugee crisis, while hosting a tiny fraction of total refugees. 

Though conventional weapons alone would be enough to leave a perpetual impact of the war, Assad’s regime’s use of chemical weapons has done irreparable harm to Syria. In the summer of 2013, the use of sarin gas in the suburbs of the Ghouta region killed approximately 1,400 civilians. Despite the Assad regime’s insistence to the contrary, the use of these chemical weapons has continued throughout the war.  The impact of deaths and displacement will forever stain Syria’s history. Entire cities, communities, families, and individuals have been destroyed or uprooted. The war has slashed wounds that even time will not be able to heal. 

The onset of the civil war involved several groups contributing to the fight. Among them were the Syrian Armed Forces, several rebel groups, Turkish forces, and extremist groups such as the Islamic State (IS).  Soon after the onset of war, many of these groups were reported to be targeting civilians. Several extremist groups, including IS, emerged from the war. Foreign powers, too, were involved in the war in various ways: Notably, Russia and Iran backed Assad’s regime providing the Syrian military with weapons, combat support, and active involvement. The United States has also backed several rebel groups, with poor results. Eventually, Western support for anti-regime militias dwindled. Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria, backing rebel groups and throwing the Kurd minority that lived there into a humanitarian crisis. No side has been without blame. The one fact that remains clear is the civilians of Syria have suffered the utmost. 

This March, the war will enter its twelfth year. Though the war has continued in the background through occasional UN reports and news stories, it has faded from mainstream news cycles and popular attention. Yet the impact and the costs of war will not fade into the background as easily. The harsh reality faced by the Syrian population and the pall that has covered the nation is perpetual. The costs of war shook the world once again in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe has yet again been reminded of the intangible darkness that war brings to a continent. Though many in the West may have forgotten about Syria, its impact will be felt for the remainder of this century and beyond. 

We ought not treat the impact of the Syrian Civil War as mere statistics, but understand the grave reality of the darkness of war. Only then can we, as an international community, understand the necessity to end wars and prevent them from starting.

Phillip Lisun ‘25 studies in the College of Arts & Science. He can be reached at l.phillip@wustl.edu.

Photo courtesy of Flickr under the Creative Commons