Historical background

NOVOSIBIRSK INTERNATIONAL UN MODEL 2015

Orishchenko Daria,

Department of History of Foreign Policy and International Relations,

Social-Humanitarian faculty,

Novosibirsk State University of Economy and Management

Background Guide for the United Nations Security Council

Outline

Introduction....................................................................................................................................3

Historical background...............................................................................................................4

2. Current state…………………………………………………………………………………..7

3. Key issues………………………................................................................................................9

4. Key players and their positions…………………………………………………………….11

Conclusion................................................................................................................................14

Links for further research.........................................................................................................15

Introduction

It is obvious that situation in the Syrian region attracts attention of the whole international community today. When the turbulence in the Middle East and North Africa reached Syria, its nature had already quietly changed. It shifted from the initial national movement for democracy, revival and self-improvement, to the current fight for regional control. Nowadays the Civil war in Syria itself represents an internal multilateral armed conflict between the Syrian government troops with interallied para-military units on the one hand, and the Syrian opposition on the other hand. It should be marked that IS militants became active participants of the conflict in 2014 besides them.

Being a subject of domestic jurisdiction the conflict causes a huge resonance among present participants of international relations, and first of all in the view of control of terrorism. The international response to events in Syria is presented in a wide range: from criticism of violent acts and acts of terrorism to imposition of sanctions and severance of diplomatic relations; from creation of Observer Groups to planning for forming a new special body that would be engaged in elimination of terrorism in Syria. Various powers within and outside the region have gathered and contested the outcomes of these fights, and now the community can see an even bigger crisis in the Middle Eastern region.

While discussing possible solutions of the Syrian question positions of key interested parties has divided. Some of them second the idea of peaceful settlement of the conflict by means of bilateral dialogue, whereas others are persuaded of necessity of military intervention. All this further complicates planning of common counter-terrorism strategy in the region.

Some characteristics of the regional structure have become evident, and the world community should now work to develop a new diplomatic approach to Syrian crisis and particularly to counter-terrorism activity in the Syrian region.It is important to organize collaboration between all countries interested in eliminating of terrorism in the region today as soon as coordination between them. Taking a floor on the 70s Session the UN General Assembly the President of Russian Federation suggested to form a common international coalition against terrorism in Syria as possible measure for eliminating the existing threat of terrorism. It is supposed that formation of such coalition will help to accelerate restoration of national statehood process where it was destroyed and also will contribute to solving problems the community is facing. And terrorism is one of the main among them.

For the UN Security Council as for the body responsible for violence prevention and the maintenance of international peace and security it is necessary to undertake immediate efforts to stabilize the situation in the Syrian region because it may threaten both regional and global security.

Historical background

In March 2011 antigovernment protests broke out in Syria, inspired by a wave of similar demonstrations elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa that had already ousted the long-serving presidents of Tunisia and Egypt. These protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers for writing antigovernment graffiti. On March 18 first victims have occurred: several people were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters. That fact has strengthened protesters calls for reforms and Assad acknowledged the legitimacy of some of the protesters’ concerns. But “he resisted the opposition’s calls for immediate reform, saying that the government would proceed with its plans to introduce reform gradually”[1].

After that the Syrian government made a few concessions aimed at protesters but demonstrations occurred sporadically throughout the country. As protests intensified and spread to additional cities, there was an escalation in use of violence by Syrian security forces. The government also took action to retain its power to suppress public protest, passing a new law requiring Syrians to obtain government permission before protesting. This way the Syrian government warned that the authorities would continue to treat demonstrations as a threat to public safety and all protests will be suppressed. Soon in several areas of the country, the government imposed a communications blackout, shutting down telephone and Internet service. In Deraa security forces cut the town’s water and electricity supplies.

As demonstrations continued to spread in Syria, the government increased its efforts to overwhelm protesters with military force. By early May the antigovernment protests had reached Damascus and they were violently suppressed. This has resulted in imposition of sanctions by The European Union (EU) that included travel bans and asset freezes targeted against more than a dozen senior Syrian officials thought to be directing the government’s actions against the protesters. Moreover in May, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, condemned the government’s use of violence against civilians and several weeks later Turkey demonstrated its support for protesters by hosting a conference for members of the Syrian opposition. The continued bloodshed drew global blame and calls for Assad to step down as president.

As the crisis continued to escalate, opponents of the Assad regime began creating several opposition organizations such as the Syrian National Council (SNC), an umbrella organization of exiled Syrians, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a militarized element largely composed of Syrian military defectors and armed rebels.

In early November 2011 Syrian officials reportedly agreed to an Arab League initiative calling for the Syrian government to stop violence against protesters. Under growing international pressure, the Syrian government agreed to permit in December a delegation of monitors from the Arab League to visit Syria to observe the implementation of the Arab League plan. Despite the fact the first assessments of the situation were largely positive the monitors claimed that Syrian government forces had presented them orchestrated scenes and restricted their movements and soon the Arab League formally suspended the monitoring mission on January 28, citing an increase in violence as the reason.

The next attempt was made later that month by the Arab League and the UN jointly appointed Kofi Annan, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations, as a peace envoy for Syria. Annan’s attempt to negotiate an end to violence was undermined by the Syrian regime’s failure to adhere to negotiated agreements. Within days, however, the ceasefire had collapsed and attacks by government and opposition forces had resumed. So the UN stopped monitoring operations in June over fears for the monitors’ safety. After that Annan resigned in August and was replaced by the Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.

Soon the Syrian opposition had revised some aspects of its activities and in November 2012 Syrian opposition leaders announced the formation of a new coalition called the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (sometimes called the Syrian National Coalition). Over the next month the coalition received recognition from dozens of countries as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

By late 2012 the military situation appeared to reach a deadlock. “Rebel fighters kept a firm hold on northern areas but were held back by deficiencies in equipment, weaponry, and organization. Meanwhile, government forces, weakened by defections, also seemed incapable of making large gains”[2].

With no decisive outcome the international allies of the Syrian government and the rebels stepped up their support, raising the prospect of a regional proxy war. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar funded and armed rebels, while Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah continued to supply weapons for the Syrian government.

There were new calls for international military action in Syria after suspected chemical weapons attacks in the suburbs of Damascus killed hundreds on August 21, 2013.

The Syrian opposition accused pro-Assad forces of having carried out the attacks and US, British, and French leaders announced that they were considering retaliatory strikes against the Syrian regime. “Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal or destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal as part of a joint mission led by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The destruction of chemical agents and munitions was completed a year later”[3]. As a response the Security Council has passed Resolution 2118[4] on 7 September 2013, which requires Syria to destroy its current stockpile of chemical weapons. It further prohibits Syria from using, developing, stockpiling, and transferring chemical weapons.

“As of March 2014, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that more than 140,000 have been killed”[5], however up to August 2015 250,000 people have lost their lives in armed conflict, which started off as anti-government uprisings before it became a full-fledged civil war.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14