This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at JHU chapter.

The current civil war in Syria, sending waves of anxiety through the minds of the internationally attentive, is a conflict unlike any we’ve seen. And, from what we can tell, it’s not going to end any time soon. But, how is the war proceeding? Who can claim to be the most prominent actors in the conflict?

Origin of Conflict: Upon first assuming office in 2000, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pledged to reform and modernize Syria politically and economically. However, the regime’s old habit of arresting political opponents and intellectuals and restricting freedom of the press returned in 2001 and would continue for the next decade. Additionally, economic progress that was made during those years largely only benefited the elite class in Syria.

Massive violence erupted in 2011, when anti-government protests in the city of Deraa were met with swift and violent military crackdowns by Assad’s regime. The protests did not stop, however, and by October of 2015, the initial conflict ballooned into civil war that engulfed the entire nation and sent shocks throughout the Arab world. According to the BBC, as of October of 2015 the war has left 250,000 dead in Syria and displaced 11 million more.

Current Status: Since the conflict began, multiple international parties have pledged assistance to either Assad’s regime or to at least a portion of the Syrian rebel groups. On the regime side of the equation, Assad’s government and the Syrian army are supported by Russia, Iran, and the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, each having a unique motivation for keeping Assad in power.

Supporters

Russia: Syria represents the last point of strong Russian influence in the Middle East, strategically and politically. Of specific strategic importance is Russia’s naval facility located at the Syrian port of Tartous, which is key to the operation of its Black Sea fleet in the Mediterranean, and the presence of Russian forces at an air base in Latakia. For Putin, maintaining a political influence in the country by ensuring the survival of a regime friendly to Russia is essential if Russia is to maintain its standing as a world power. On the ground, Russia has helped lead airstrikes against whatever rebel and terrorist groups the combined Russian and Syrian regime leadership perceive as a threat, including targets in civilian areas. Russia has also supported the Syrian military with heavy artillery and much-needed military advisory expertise.

Iran: The Iranian state has reportedly “spent billions of dollars per year” aiding Assad’s government by providing military advising, subsidized weaponry, lines of credit, and oil transfers, according to the BBC. Assad’s government is one of Iran’s closest political allies, and Iran relies on Syria to facilitate the shipment of Iranian weapons to Shi’a Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Iran is not interested in sustaining its relationship with Assad’s regime purely for political or ease of transport reasons, however. The majority of Syrians may be Sunni muslims, but Assad and his Alawite-dominated government represent a Shi’a ruling class within Syria. For this reason, it is believed that predominantly Shi’a Iran has encouraged Hezbollah fighters, which are more disciplined and professional than the Syrian army, to help maintain the regime by acting as an independently military force. In fact, at times Hezbollah has been seen to act as a stabilizing force in comparison to the Syrian army, which gained a reputation for looting and abuse of civilians early on in the conflict. In addition to protecting the Shi’a regime, Hezbollah claims to be defending Shi’a holy sites within Syria.

Opposition

Miscellaneous: Several of the Arab gulf states (notably Turkey and Saudi Arabia) and private donors have thrown support at times to some combination of the various rebel groups in Syria, which in total number about 1000. The groups vary wildly in ethnic composition, ideology, degree of military training and discipline, and especially in range of influence, as the majority of the groups emerge out of local command structures and operate on a small scale due to limited resources.

United States: In general, the U.S. desires a negotiated political, not military settlement to end the conflict in Syria wants that Assad leave the picture. More immediately dear to the U.S. than the end of the war, however, is its continued offensives against the Islamic State (IS) as part of the American war on international terrorism. For this reason, the U.S. support of rebel groups and U.S.-led airstrikes mostly revolve around defeating IS, and U.S. forces avoid directly confronting the regime forces. However, the U.S. is careful to avoid benefiting Assad by eliminating enemies of the regime by airstrike, and the rebel groups supported either explicitly or tacitly by the U.S. continue to engage Russian and Syrian forces on the ground.

CNN

Consequences

U.S. attempts to reconcile with Russia over the Syria issue centered has thus far centered around carefully constructed cease-fires and joint agreements to coordinate Russian-U.S. attack on IS from the air. However, all of the agreements have failed, as attempts to coordinate a U.S.-Russia front against IS have achieved little and each nation accuses the other of multiple violations of each ceasefire agreement. The most recent examples are the U.S.’s accidental bombing of a Syrian army base and the Russian participation in the regime’s bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo which destroyed schools and hospitals and killed hundreds. The Aleppo bombing prompted the U.S. State Department to official cease talks with Russia regarding Syria on October 3rd and caused many in the international community (most notably French President François Hollande) to condemn Russia’s actions as war crimes. The U.S. has also been considering implementing a no-fly zone over Syria recently.

However, Putin shows no signs of backing down in Syria or of coming to a lasting agreement with the U.S., and for this reason the question remains over what an American response to the Syrian war should look like going forward, if the U.S. is to give any response. The issue comes at a time of incredible confusion in U.S. politics, given the current election, and some experts claim Putin is using this confusion to his advantage. A more thorough investigation into possible U.S. responses going forward is to follow this article.

Special thanks go to Hopkins Professor Sarah E. Parkinson, who graciously lended her time and expertise in Middle Eastern affairs to inform this article.

Syrian Civil War Pt. 1: Who’s Who?

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