Causes of the failure of the state in Syria (2010-2019)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Regional Studies Department, University of Tehran

2 Private Sector

3 Ph.D. Student, School of Management and Governance, University of Murdoch, Australia

Abstract

What broke out as the Arab Spring in Tunisia in 2010 stroke Egypt and shed its light on the Middle East, including Syria. During the first few days of demonstrations in Syria, the spring turned into a bloody fall and a full-scale civil war. Political-security crises and economic and social problems that had dominated the country during Assad's family rule left the state in deep defeat. Meanwhile, the arena of war turned into the scene of conflict between different political forces and their regional and international supporters, caused Syria to encounter immense foreign intervention. In this regard, this article attempts to figure out the answer to this question, "What are the causes for the Syrian state of failing during 2010-19?" The authors hypothesize that "the state in Syria has failed since the beginning of the protests due to persistent social, economic and political-security crises that led to the militarization of the country by the opposition and insurgent groups." The findings also indicate that the Syrian state faced historical crises after 2010 in economic imbalance and decline, demographic and environmental pressures, political-administrative corruption, and weak public services, which deepened after 2011, and it spread to other areas such as ethnic-religious violence.

Keywords

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Geopolitics Quarterly
Volume 16, Issue 60
January 2021
Pages 288-309

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 June 2020
  • Revise Date: 24 November 2020
  • Accept Date: 15 January 2021

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