It is time to say cum write something about Aleppo, Syria. The civil war in that country started with street demonstrations as part of the ‘Arab Spring’ mood and preceding events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and some in the Arabian peninsula. Syria’s President Assad tried to force the demonstrators off the streets by having snipers killing some of them. This only aggravated the situation and within about a year the civil war was in full swing, with the opposing side being supported by power players within the region and the US from outside it. Washington is as close to Syria’s Damascus, as Moscow is to Cuba’s Havana!
Washington is as close to Syria’s Damascus, as Moscow is to Cuba’s Havana!
In this civil war, Syria’s largest city Aleppo was the prize to capture. The ensuing fight and siege lasted until last summer as neither party had the resources to win. The rebels were unable to form a united front, while the war’s refugees became an international stability problem. This prompted to have the Russians support the ruling president Assad. This has now resulted in the ruined remains of Aleppo becoming his to control.
The people of Aleppo accuse ‘the world’ of letting them down, but the world did not bring this fight to the people of Syria. Still, the sentiment behind this accusingly pointed finger is well understood as civilians always suffer most when fighting breaks out. This is why we avoid it at most costs and there is an Arabian saying that says as much: ‘One hundred years of dictatorship is better than one year of anarchy’.
Syria did have one hundred years of dictatorship in the frame work of the Sykes-Picot agreement from 1916! However, just as in the case of Yugoslavia, the internal differences and tensions were never addressed, let alone resolved. Such internal conflicts and differences lay dormant under a dictatorship remaining unaddressed. In the cases of Yugoslavia and Syria both, that became an opportunity missed, when after time and shifting rulers the old animosities surfaced again, but now beyond control.
Syria did have one hundred years of dictatorship in the frame work of the Sykes-Picot agreement from 1916!
Such situations could have been addressed, but because of the power play by outsider states these situations are not dealt with out of fear to upset the prevailing power balance. Yet such policy shifts the problems into the future tasking the next generation. It will then suffer literally the painful consequences of these self-serving policies of the power players at hand.
Our world community has a number of these simmering conflict zones, besides the ones that are in full flame - Sudan for one.
The time has come to address such situation before hand with the aim to prevent violence and destruction from taking hold. This means that we need to define policies using incentives, guidance and enforcement and apply them using the apparatus of the United Nations and the Security council.
This requires a shift away from the present mindset of power and influence to one of influence and prevention of human suffering, destroyed culture and wasted war making resources. Peace is cheaper than war, so we would all benefit just based on this value alone.
Minimizing violence is faster and more beneficial than all those old fashioned territorial power plays left over from our human past.
So, the Aleppo Dilemma as I call this, is for humanity as a whole and the powers that be in particular, to realise that mutual cooperation benefits all of humankind. This must be our aim in this our age of globalisation. Why not globalise the minimisation of violence? It is cheaper, faster and more beneficial than all those old fashioned territorial power plays left over from our human past.
<9:14am~
