War in Syria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

War in Syria - Essay Example The uprising is believed to be caused by dictatorship, corruption and human rights violations among other grievances (Rosiny, 2). Syrian war is a prolonged conflict that is currently taking place in Syria between the military and those opposed to the regime of Baa’thist government led by Bashar al-Assad. It started during the Arab spring. Syrian Arab republic was established in 1920 as a French colony in Western Asia. It has its headquarters in Damascus. The country borders Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and the Mediterranean Sea. At the time of the Arab spring Syrian president Bashar al Assad enjoyed a relatively good support from the citizens. Bashar al Assad took the reign of power from his father, Hafez al- Assad in 2000 when the father died. Hafez became president in 1970 through a coup de tat. After taking power, Hafez set up an authoritarian regime that didn’t tolerate activities of the Muslim brotherhood which was the main opposition to the ruling regime at that time. He encouraged the idea of divide and rule. He enjoyed the support of the Sunni Arabs who made up almost 60% of the entire Syrian population and that of Christians. He also had the support of his minority group of the Alawis. He excluded those who were perceived not to be in support of his policies like the Kurds. When his son took power in 2000, he introduced political and economical reform measures in Syria. He released scores of political prisoners and initiated a number of economic reforms that made him popular with the people. According to Assad Al-Saleh (2014), the period known as the Damascus spring which was during the earlier days of Bashar al- Assad tenure in office shows that the opposition and political activities were tolerated. But this did not last for long. Bashar al Assad regime was characterized by corruption and alienated other communities. The regime was also oppressive and arrested opposition leaders. The people