Syria: The New Cold War

The turmoil in Syria brings to the fore a power game in the Middle East between the United States, China, and Russia. In fact, the crisis in Syria is not an entirely Syrian concern (Seale 20). Its broader magnitude was emphasized at a time when China and Russia cast their veto during the United Nation Security Council, thus terminating a Western-supported Arab spring that proposed the stepping down of Bashar al-Assad. The discussion was not concerning the internal power war of Syria. Rather, with such vetoes, Moscow and Beijing were also interested in the Middle East and, therefore, ready to defend it (Dunne 1). The paper sets out to discuss the Syrian crisis and how external involvement may worsen the situation.

Syria has never been a preserve of the Western defense under the control of the US and its partners. The following paper sets out to discuss the internal civil war in Syria, and how the Cold War mindset is playing out with the United States, Russia and China at the center stage. For many decades, Russia has had interests in the Middle East, especially in Syria. As one of the main clients of Iranian oil, China does not support Western endorsements on Tehran, nor does it support the United States’ efforts to contain its hegemony in Asia-Pacific (Seale 20). From the onset, the war in Syria has been a national issue with global ramifications. At the national level, the crisis has been a ploy for toppling the government based on the Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen model (Seale 20). However, in this more repulsive war, the government, and opposition have erred (Dunn).

For instance, the government’s major mistake was the use live rounds against protesters that were initially engaged in peaceful demonstrations. Although the Syrian crisis may have been resolved with the implementation of urgent reforms, the crisis has culminated into the genocide that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives with millions of refugees (Dunne 1). Internally, this has enhanced massive resentment among citizens, minimizing the likelihood of negotiations. The opposition’s mistake was resorting to arms, mainly in the form of Free Syrian Army (FSA)—a mixed army of rebels from an armed force, freelance combatants, and insistent Islamists (Seale 20). No government, regardless of its political goals, can tolerate an armed insurgency without resorting to force (Seale 20). Certainly, the emergence of armed opposition presented the Syrian government the reason it required in seeking to destroy it with bloody suppression. As such, in Syria, there has been an increase in violence from the government and opposition—creating a sectarian division and dangerous deadlock—which has resulted in a full civil war (Seale 20).

On a global scale, Russia and China with the support of Brazil and India have disputed the U.S. dominance in the Middle East (Seale 20). The United States on the other hand, has dismissed China and Russia’s veto, terming it a mockery. Increasing the crisis, the U.S. called for a worldwide partnership to back the opposition from Syrian brutal government. In addition, the U.S. pushed for the formation of “Friends of Syria” faction, with a clear goal of providing monetary support as well as weapons to Assad’s opponents (Dunne 1). At the center of global struggle is a concerted effort by the U.S. and its partners to topple the ruling governments in Syria and Iran. Iran’s “offense” has been rejecting to submit to the United States supremacy in the Gulf, with its nuclear plan to regional nuclear domination in Israel. Equally, in the last thirty years, the partnership between Iran, Israel, and Hizbollah has contributed to the military superiority of Israel (Seale 20). However, in the recent past, these countries have been a primary challenge for the United States because of the Israel regional supremacy.

What is at stake is the plight of the Syrian people, left to rot away as the American issue goes on. The power struggle in Syria is about the US-EU Axis against the Russia-China axis. China and Russia for instance, have reached a level where they can vote 100 percent to defy the West (Dee 1). While China is jostling to become the next superpower, it certainly has vested interests in the Middle East, the United States, and Russia, having long-term interests in this region although Syria has evaded the US grip for so long. Apparently, the West is determined to defeat Russia in Syria by all means probable. The latest lengthy confrontation in Syria and the wider Middle East can be seen as a proxy war wedged by the US and NATO against Russia’s recent occupation of Syria. The truth is that Syria is just one region of engagement in a far-reaching conflict against Russia that has been unfolding under the leadership of Putin who has been standing up against the United States.

The same conflict has been witnessed in Ukraine and Georgia, where Russia effectively froze, albeit momentarily, the Western advancement. Whatever is taking shape in the Gulf, in which the East and West have vast interests in equal measures, represents the twenty-first century Cold War. The United States approach to ousting the Assad regime has flopped desolately despite the West’s inclination for an economic embargo; it’s shelling of Syria and supporting, equipping and training terrorists has hit a snug. The Syrian refugee crisis, for instance, has become the recent approach by the West to weaken and inflict a final blow on Syria which has been outside the U.S. monopoly for decades.

The lavish gesture by Germany to take in five hundred thousands of refugees annually could be viewed as a suspicious approach that intends to sway the Syrian populace to break their attachment to Russia’s only ally. This is meant to serve as bait to win the trust of the desperate people who have been devastated by years of war. The refugee status model is aimed at emptying Syria of its human capital, which will perhaps help reconstruct the economy in the future. What is more, former Syrian military are among the many refugees eloping away from the country. Fleeing soldiers are literary depleting the regime’s capability to fight off ISIS. The United States and NATO’s opposition to Russia’s military involvement in Russia rekindle the Cold War memories (Dee 1). Ironically, a barrage of attacks on Russia by the US overlooks the close ties that Syria and Russia have enjoyed in the long haul. The fact of the matter is that the current U.S. led combat approach in Syria is to undermine Russia’s role in fighting off ISIS and also to demonstrate to Russia that the United States is still a global force in the world. In retrospect, Middle East nations like Saudi Arabia have sought for help from Russia, as an aspect that questions the US resolve under the leadership of President Obama (Dunne 2).

In any case, the West is not interested in defeating ISIS, neither is the clamor to out Assad from power regardless of the aftermath. Tightening the snare on Russia and Syria, the EU nations have denied Russia from using their airspace, which is simply a scheme to strangle Damascus. Iran, on the other hand, has offered Russia a surrogate flight path (Seale 20). Impeccable sources indicate that the United States has been training moderate rebels who are in reality allied to Al-Qaeda. This is another grave mistake that the United States committed when they trained hundreds of thousands of Afghans as terrorists in a bid to mitigate the former USSR activities in Afghanistan. On the flipside of things, the United States did not understand that it was enhancing tentacles of terror that would otherwise turn around and unleash the 9/11 attack.

Ultimately, the outcome in Syria is one where ISIS is likely to assume to power, which may also culminate into a pro-western nation. The United States would prefer an autocratic system of government that dances to their tune than a democratic regime that is opposed to their policies. In fact, the human rights debate is anything but a weapon and tactical power game (Dunne 1). Conversely, NATO has been advancing its course to crush Kurds, who are labeled as terrorists because they are socialist sympathizers who are opposed to neoliberal change (Dunne 4).

In the end, the situation in Syria happens to be a tricky one. The fact that the Russia is ready to continue the conflict by deploying more military power suggests that Assad’s regime has a strong ally on its shoulders. On the contrary, this will only whet the appetite of the United States and its allies to escalate their support for a Sunni government. Certainly, Russia is sending a strong message to United States that while the Soviet Union is down, Russia is not out.

Works Cited

Dee, Dan Luce. ‘With Putin in Syria, Allies Question Obama’s Resolve. foreign policy 2015: 1. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Dunne, Charles. “The Syrian Crisis: A Case for Greater U.S. Involvement.” freedomhouse.org. Freedom House, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Seale, Patrick. “The Syrian Crisis and the New Cold War.” The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs 31.2 (2012):20