Reading Response #3 – New Arab Wars Chapter #7

Allison Brown Government and Politics of the Middle East Eric Nigh February 6, 2022 Reading Response #3 – New Arab Wars Chapter #7 Chapter 7 of Marc Lynch’s The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East (2016) titled “Syria in Hell” spans a number of topics related to both international and domestic conflicts and social impacts from the ongoing civil or proxy war in Syria. As Syria became suspended in a stalemate, funding from external powers including the US, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and the UAE to name a few states came in to support either the Assad regime or to arm the rebels. Underlining this funding, especially for the US, was an urgency to control the landscape as it seemed prime for extremist and terrorist groups to emerge and gain power in regional uncertainty. With this, President Obama, among other allies, grew increasingly aware that the Syrians rebels would be able to overthrow Assad on their own, and discussed other ways besides funding, to support the rebels. (195) In 2012, Obama started to ship arms to Syria at rates which would only increase in 2013. With these increases in arms funding, came the covert training of Syrian rebels on US and ally bases in the region. Regardless, groups funded by the US and allies also sought out funding from other acceptable and unacceptable regional actors, as deemed by the US. Qatar and Turkey guided the West and maintained relationships with groups such as Jubhat al-Nusra, despite its designation as a US terrorist group. Another Turkish partner, Ahrar al-Sham, was also marked as a US terrorist organization, but continued to receive Turkish funding. (198) These conversations of US support appeared domestically as well in discourse, with Western publicists continually trying to sustain the image that the rebels were moderate and secular, but this picture became more convoluted as the conflict continued and different groups sought out funding from extremist and secular sources. President Obama’s “red-line” speech and diplomacy in Syria would shape relations in other foreign policy goals as well. Given his stark warning against the Assad’s regime’s use of sarin gas which he would not follow through with, questions of his regional seriousness occurred in Israel and Saudi Arabia, who grew concerned that Obama would not follow through with statements posed against Iran. (201, 204) For years, Syria would continue to be stuck in a stalemate in their civil war, and proxy war, with funding coming from external sources and the continuation of violence, with no end in sight. ISIS continues to captivate the US more so than the Assad regime and leads to the US to become further involved with the group in Syria and even Iraq. There are three theories behind the emergence of ISIS at this time, (1) the Assad regime intentionally created ISIS by releasing jihadists from prison early to undermine the rebellion, (2), ISIS was created by the Gulf states and Turkey as part of the anti-Assad campaign, and (3), ISIS is the culmination of trends within Islamism more broadly. (211) Lynch acknowledges that there is some truth to each of the theories, but they each present a misguided reality respectively that complicates responses against them. The remainder of the chapter discusses ISIS’s spread to Iraq and concludes with how the rise of ISIS alongside the Syrian stalemate continues to pose strategic challenges to regional powers and security, setting the stage for further involvement from Saudi Arabia (224). Lynch’s choice to include a brief section at the start of the chapter regarding the domestic political discourse surrounding Obama’s reelection and the question of whether to directly intervene or to arm the Syrian rebels stands out to readers. Unlike prior chapters of the text, for the first few sections of this chapter Lynch continues to refer to domestic political conversations and how they potentially impact foreign policy in Syria. This section is important to note, because it shows how when the American public’s perception shifts on issues, Syria would leave the public eye which instead focused on Benghazi, Israel, and the Iranian Nuclear Program. It is also important to note how in turn, public discourse can shape foreign policy. Although the conflict continued in Syria, more media attention and US domestic attention was brought to other issues. Only months later, however, the public eye would again be attracted to Syria because of the emergence of ISIS, a terrorist organization which would concern the US public. Additionally, Lynch’s section of the US’ willingness to work with extremist or terrorist groups backed by Qatar and Turkey again shows their drive to remove Bashar al-Assad from power, at any means necessary. Again, this dialogue will Allison Brown Government and Politics of the Middle East Eric Nigh February 6, 2022 shift later when ISIS emerges in Syria, with the US instead shifting its focus from Bashar al-Assad instead to combatting the newly formed terrorist network which seemed to have global outreach.