The United States and Syria Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The United States and Syria Conflict - Essay Example For this reason, the paper will dwell on the prospects for long-term peaceful relations between the United States and Syria Syria In brief, Syria is one of the most heterogeneous states in the world. It holds in its land a vast number of sectarian and non-sectarian groups that are autonomous and independent. The diversity within the state is considered as a hindrance in the creation of policies and the establishment of a strong government. In totality, there are almost 19 million people in Syria which are divided into ten major sects. The Sunni Arabs compose 65 percent of the total population in Syria, followed by Alawis with 12 percent, Christians with 10 percent, Kurds with nine percent, Druze with three percent, and the remaining percentage is composed of Assyrians, Bedouin, Circassians, Ismailis, and Turcomans. Among these fractions, the group that greatly challenges the Syrian government is the Kurds and the Sunni Islamists. Along with this, the Syrians have considered a pan-Ara b identity which causes them to be generous to Arab countries, which allow the Arab refugees to take flight on Syrian land. Currently, Syria, under the regime of Bashar al-Assad, is portraying as â€Å"spoilers† by acting as a benefactor of the Palestine militants. Aside from this, it also often rearms Hezbollah. With this matter on hand, Syria has become more estranged from the United States which had caused Syria to create a strong relationship between Iran (Kaplan, 2008; Sharp, 2010). Relationship of the United States and Syria As an overview, the relationship between the United States and Syria was a diplomatic relationship after Syria achieved its independence in 1944. The diplomatic relationship worsened during 1967; however, it was reestablished during 1974. Syria has become part of the list of states terrorism sponsors of the United States since 1979. However, within the years 1990-2001, the two countries had cooperated in some of the issues involved in the regional l evel. However, in 2003 to 2009, the government of Syria was unable to prevent the country from being a passage point of the fighter which is on their way to enter Iraq. Also, another cause of the conflict was that Syria was unable to deport some of the supporters of Saddam Hussein, and it had also protected the Palestine opposition group in Damascus. Furthermore, the conflict between the states is also ignited by the creation of weapons in Syria for mass destruction and along with its anti-human rights activities (U.S. Department of State, 2012). Approaches for Reconciliation between the United States and Syria There have been many approaches in order to create a peaceful relationship between the United States and Syria. One of the first approaches to gain peace and reconciliation between Syria and U.S. is the realist approach or political realism, which was done during President Ronald Reagan’s administration. As an overview, political realism is based on the paradigm that h umans are born with the need for power. Realism focuses on the use, containment, and the consequences of power. Also, a political realism approach explains the use of power by a state against or for each other (Duncan, Jancar-Webster, & Switky, 2009).