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02 VOL. 076
10.16.13
INSIDE THE SYRIAN WAR PAGE 9 DISCOVER US ONLINE
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1 0 . 1 6 . 1 3 / / INDY // 10 T h e I n d y s a t d o w n w i t h p o l i t i c a l s c i e n c e p r o f e s s o r N i c k Fo r r e s t t o d i s c u s s t h e c u r r e n t c o n f l i c t i n S y r i a . B e l o w i s a s y n o p s i s o f t h e i n t e r v i e w. U s e t h e Q R c o d e b e l o w f o r a l i n k t o t h e o n l i n e v e r s i o n w h i c h h a s t h e f u l l a u d i o i n t e r v i e w.
Rob e r t B e rma n N ews Ed itor
Use co de or URL for full aud io interview ti nyu rl .c om / m z k 3 epz
Q: Why should Americans be paying attention to Syria? A: First of all, everyone should pay attention when tens of thousands of people are dying. The U.S. has an interest in stability in Syria. Some rebel groups are allied with Al-Qaeda, which we don’t want to gain a power base. If either side of the war threatens Israel, we will probably go to Israel’s aid diplomatically and logistically. We also have longstanding ties with neighboring Jordan and a military alliance with Turkey. If we do intervene, we have to realize that it would have serious costs. We don’t have a magic solution. Q: What is the historical background for the conflict in Syria? A: Syria is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the world. However, Syria as we know it was mostly created after World War I. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, France and the U.K. divided the Middle East between themselves, including what we now call Syria.
Syria’s current borders create many of the country’s problems. The borders the Europeans created did not reflect the region’s local politics and culture. The Middle East at the time was mostly made up of families and cities that had their own separate identities. When France and the U.K. drew Syria’s borders, they lumped those distinct peoples and cultures together without their permission.
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That made the country inherently unstable. A series of dictators have ruled Syria since then, culminating in Hafez al-Assad’s takeover in the 1970s. He died in 2000 and passed leadership to his son, Bashar alAssad. Q: Who are the major groups living in Syria?
A: Arab Sunni Muslims make up the largest group in Syria. However, there is a substantial population of Shiite Muslims, including a subset called Alawites. Hafez al-Assad was an Alawite. When he took power, he began elevating other Alawites within the government. The Alawites are less than 10 percent of the population in Syria, but they held almost every position of power in the Syrian government under Hafez al-Assad. Aside from those groups, there is a significant population of Christians. There are also nomadic groups, Palestinian refugees and Kurdish people. The different nations and religious sects have centuries of suspicion between them. It is very difficult for one leader to gain acceptance from all of those groups. Q: What were the more recent events that led up to the current conflict in Syria? A: It’s part of a larger picture called the “Arab Spring,” which began a few years ago with protests in Tunisia, and later in Egypt. In both countries, the opposition deposed their country’s dictator with relatively little violence. Suddenly demonstrations began all over the Middle East. About two years ago, groups of up to 10,000 people began gathering in Syria’s major cities to peacefully demonstrate against the Assad regime. The Assad regime responded much more violently than other Arab states. It started with thugs beating protesters. The violence
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