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Understanding the Geopolitics of Syria

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pietillidie 



Joined: 07 Jan 2005


PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 8:57 am
Post subject: Understanding the Geopolitics of SyriaReply with quote

I think it says volumes that so much has been written in the other thread about refugees, and so little on the cause of the people movements themselves.

Iran/Russia/Assad; Obama/Clinton; "legitimate" anti-Assad versus lunatic extremist hopefuls like ISIS; Sunni-Shia relations; Sunni-Western relations; Russia-Western relations; Saudi oil/Iranian oil/Russian oil/US oil and their different national and strategic interests; and on.

All of this in the shadows of the failures of Afghanistan and Iraq, and empty coffers post-GFC.

With US (and other) elections in the air, we should at least get ourselves a solid handle on things. Anyone care to try to frame what we're seeing in a neat summary?

(You know my opinion is to stop sustaining tyrannical, bastard economies by transitioning from the Currency of Chaos, oil, with haste, otherwise it will be a case of rinse and repeat from here to eternity, with all other efforts horrific time-wasting exercises in between. But ignore that if you will, and at least try to convince me there are other reasonable options that don't amount to kick-and-hope guesses).

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Jezza Taurus

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Joined: 06 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:02 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

The Syrian conflict is such a difficult conflict to analyse what do you want to know exactly PTID? Are you interested in the groups within Syria or the wider powers involved in the conflict and their objectives or something entirely different?

There's so much to be said about the conflict that summarising it in a few paragraphs probably wouldn't do it justice and wouldn't cover everything that needs to be known about the region.

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pietillidie 



Joined: 07 Jan 2005


PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:33 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, fair call, Jezza. How about, in no particular order, listing some of the main variables in play at the moment? Where are things now compared to a year ago? How are the major half a dozen players positioning themselves? Any new players? Any "improvement"?

Think about it: If you don't have a crack at framing it for us, someone far less reliable and diligent will! Wink

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3.14159 Taurus



Joined: 12 Sep 2009


PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 11:34 pm
Post subject: Reply with quote

If you want to know a bit more about the situation in Syria/Iraq you could worse than watch this...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29qbh3_the-rise-of-isis-islamic-state-a-must-watch-documentary_news
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watt price tully Scorpio



Joined: 15 May 2007


PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:29 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

An interesting voice on the news in Syria: A Woman, a Muslim & a prime time news reader in Israel. Her take on Syria in an impassioned plea:

http://www.theage.com.au/video/video-news/video-world-news/viral-message-arabisraeli-newscaster-calls-aleppo-a-holocaust-20161220-4om5u.html

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Mugwump 



Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne

PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:14 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

Short of reading a book, this probably gives a reasonable short summary of the historical forces and the current position :

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229

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Jezza Taurus

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:35 pm
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Here's a map that might be helpful for those interested in what is happening on the ground, which is accurate more often than not.

The map was last updated on December 12.


Red = Syrian Government
Green = Syrian Opposition ("moderate rebels")
Yellow = Kurds
Grey = ISIS
White = Al-Nusra Front

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syrian_Civil_War_map.svg

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David Libra

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Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda

PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:41 pm
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^ I'm guessing a lot of the ISIS-held territory is desert, right?
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Jezza Taurus

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 12:00 am
Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes.

Most of the Syrian population is situated in Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Latakia. ISIS' stronghold in Raqqa is the sixth most populated city in Syria based on 2004 figures.

https://www.citypopulation.de/Syria.html

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