Syria: The Stage For The Next Cold War?

Syria is definitely the center of attention on the global stage. With it's violent oppression of the uprising of it's citizens calling for a massive change to the government; it definitely has garnered attention from every country in the world (for better, or worse), most definitely it has recieved attention by those countries that are members of the United Nations. Not surprisingly, the U.N. is split on how it should handle the situation in Syria. Albeit it's a major human-rights violation; Russia and China, who are key members of the United Nation's Security Council have both vetoed a resolution that would call for the resignation of President al-Bassad as well as trade sanctions against the country (SFGate).

The U.N.'s security council is comprised of fifteen countries, five are permanent position, while ten are temporary. China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States comprise of the permanent members whose single veto will prevent a resolution from passing. The remaining ten seats are composed of nations who serve terms on the council: Azerbaijan, India, South Africa, Columbia, Morocco, Togo, Germany, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Portugal (UN). The resolution failed was double vetoed by Russia and China, albeit it had the remaining thirteen countries in support of it (SFGate).

Russia and China both have key investments in the nation as a trade ally: They both are supplying the Syrian government with arms, which are currently are being used to put down the rebellion. However, they cite Syria's sovereignty and "future steps" as the reason to which they vetoed the resolution. It's interesting to also note that the Libyan resolution passed with the support of ten nations while China and the Russian federation along with Brazil, Germany, and India abstained from the vote (UN).

Tensions are definitely rising as nations are now forming a "Friends of Syria" collective to support the Syrian Rebellion as the U.N. failed to act. With the world's super powers on each side of the issue, in an already turmoil-ridden area of the world, plus nuclear arms thrown into the mix; it definitely sets the stage for something that could resemble a second Cold War.

The Beginnings of the Civil Unrest: Pt.1 A General Overview

The civil unrest in Syria is not that uncommon when looking at the larger picture of the public in the Middle East. The citizens of the three countries of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt have all managed to overthrow their own respective governments; while there have been large protests in Iraq and Algeria with "Sustained civil disorder and governmental changes" in Syria and Yemen- to draw attention to major instances of civil unrest from the populations of the states.

The map, courtesy of Wikipedia, details the countries that have been affected by the Arab Spring.

The uprising in Syria had similar origins to that of the other nations: A demand for more political freedoms, a change in the current regime to that of a more democratic one- meaning also that the current leader of the nation Bashar al-Assad step down, and finally that more civil rights are granted to the citizens. A specific point to the goals of the Syrian opposition was to have the 48-year long emergency law repealed. This law, according to Al Jeezera,"gave the government a free hand to arrest people without charge and extended the state's authority into virtually every aspect of citizens' lives" (Al Jazeera). This law was repealed back on the 21st of April, 2011, however the protests have continued. Interestingly seven officers deserted from the Surian Army to form the Free Syrian Army, led by Colonel Riyad al-Asad, to protect the protesters from the Syrian government's army (Asharq Alawsat). Currently, the opposition control several key towns throughout the country: Douma, a city that is northeast of the capital city of Damascus (Alarabiya); Homes, a city that has been the center of attention in the past weeks as pro-government forces have been shelling the opposition controlled city (NYTimes); and even suburbs of Damascus itself have fallen under the opposition's control (MSNBC).

Khawla Bent Azour: The Armed, Anti-Regime Brigade of Women

According to a Youtube video-that at the time of this posting has unfortunately been removed- an all-female armed brigade of Syrian protesters has formed together under the name "Khawla Bent Azour." Khawla Bent Azour was a poetess, warrior leader who "[fought] for what [she] believe[d] in, and never accept[ed] defeat" (siddiqi.org). According to the article I found on France24's website, the translation of what the spokeswoman for the brigade says that, "[we] will patrol the south of the country to defend citizens against the state's army and to make up for "the Arab League's inability to defend us and the world's cowardice in the face of the Syria's fascist regime." The article then goes on to say, "The young woman goes on to say that the brigade supports anti-regime protesters and promises to avenge all martyrs" (France24.com)

What's interesting is that I initially found this posted on tumblr, a social networking site. Given the fact that I had just picked the Syrian conflict as my topic, it perked my interest more than it would have otherwise. As a Women's and Gender Studies major and a Political Science minor, I find it interesting that an all-female brigade of women would form to "support anti-regime protesters and [promise] to avenge all the martyrs." It is definitely a change of pace from the typical male-only military and armed-militias that is mostly reported on.

However, there is an odd aspect to it. Upon google searching for the brigade's name, I only found one news-related website (excluding tumblr blogs) that mentioned it. And the one that did cover it was a French website. I would have expected to see at least MSNBC, CNN, or the BBC to mention this at least for a second; but those articles are nowhere to be found. According to one of the two comments on the article posted to the French news website, one comment writes that the video is a fake while the other comment refutes that allegation.

As there is only one website covering the story, it does lend itself to be taken as a fake; but even then wouldn't another news organization make a story on it at least for a filler? I must say, it's quite troubling to see and hear the lack of coverage on the Syrian conflict in the news. However, it definitely is a bit similar to the coverage of the Libyan crisis.