Oliver+Santos-Hamer

Oliver Santos-Hamer Belarus The current issues in Syria are the violation of Human Rights; that being the death of nonviolent protesters, including children, the displacement of refugees in neighboring countries, the use of chemical weapons banned by Geneva, and the position of terrorist factions in the rebellion. The Republic of Belarus currently condemns foreign intervention in the Syrian crisis, as the two countries have a long history of trade together, and there exists the fear that a new government would have stricter trade agreements, and the current Syrian investors visiting Belarus would be recalled.

In the midst of the Arab Spring, Syria too had its protests, calling for the long-standing minority control of the Alawites, with to step down. The Syrian government under Bashar Al-Assad attempted to suppress these protests, not hesitating to use military force. Eventually, a rebellion followed, participants including members of insurgencies such as Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. As the fighting and consequential suppression continued, many Syrian citizens fled into the neighboring regions, causing an influx of sometimes unwanted refugees, many of which now wait in Turkey. Adding to the problem further, the use of chemical weapons has been confirmed by the UN as of September this year. The reaction by the international community reacted indignantly, and many a country called for an end to hostilities, a call promptly refused by the Syrian government. After the Assad regime used chemical weapons, military intervention was brought up and had widespread support, but a small group of countries, namely Russia and China, voted down the proposition. Many of the aforementioned countries, not just Russia and China currently have trade relations with Syria, and believe a new pro-western government would make things difficult for them. Problems that still stand are all the previously stated and the added problems of refugees flocking to neighboring countries, and possible extremist involvement. The refugees have strained the governments in nearby countries in their efforts to sustain the displaced populace, and the involvement of Islamic extremist organization spells a bad omen for the stability, and international peacefulness of a new Syrian government, should the rebellion succeed.

My own solution to the Syrian crisis, from the Belarusian viewpoint, involves the immediate ceasing of hostilities in the region, without foreign military action, but foreign economic and humanitarian aid, with the added replacement of officials, but not replacement of the Syrian government itself, or its policies. Rather than introduce a new form of a possibly unstable government with war, the old government may stay in place to appease Syria’s trade partners, and new officials, the old ones given compensation to abandon their positions, such as retired exile. This has a varying feasibility depending on the compensation offered, to appease both the Syrian people, with new officials, and the old officials, since they can retire easy, even if it's not in their own country.. The Responsibility to Protect should be solely in humanitarian aid, after the end of the fighting, and it is feasible that if the efforts of the international community were so, restricting foreign militaries, the Syrian government may feel their own sovereignty is unchallenged, and allow the help to arrive, while the people would be assuredly welcoming of it. On the topic of the Security Council, once more, foreign military intervention is unwelcome, and it’s possible that the UNSC’s forces may contend with the very people they were sent to assist; Al-Nusra, through social media, has made its views on the West clear, and marching on the White House of the U.S. doesn’t bode well. In addition, the Arab League should also be avoided, as the group recently ejected Syria for its harsh suppression tactics, and tension could erupt between the two groups. Belarus has had its own protests, albeit not as extreme, due to a degrading economy. The general economic prosperity of a country brings with it a satisfaction of the people and it is somewhat, but perhaps not completely, what with the minority control being an issue, feasible to end hostilities with an improved economy. Current economic sanctions not only paralyze the Syrian governments’ ability to generate income, but further paralyze the possibility of that money reaching the Syrian people, worsening their situation, and making insurgencies all the more appealing. With an end to hostilities, the refugee crises can be attended to and sorted out. Cooperation between neighboring countries can lead to a speedy resolution of the displacement, and the Syrian people can be returned to their homeland. In concern to the atrocities of the Syrian government and the Free Syrian Army, both should be charged, but the Syrian government must have its chemical weapons confiscated, and the production ceased. Sanctions that could hinder development would do nothing but worsen the situation. Belarus would prefer to have things back to the way they were. To ensure the protection of the current and previous supporters of the Assad regime, the new officials must be balanced, and Syrian politics must be monitored as well, to keep an eye out for any injustices on either side. If Syria was to gain a new wave of politicians, without military intervention, to appease its people, but with the same government to appease its allies, and was it to receive humanitarian and economic aid to improve its infrastructure, not only would the economic status of its trade partners rise, but the satisfaction of the people would ensure a long standing time of peace.

//Hi, I'm Madeline Beaudry. Here's my revision of your paper. I tried to highlight the things I changed, but the wiki wasn't agreeing with me...Mostly I just revised syntax and divided some long sentences into smaller parts.//

//The current issues in Syria are the violations of Human Rights: the deaths of nonviolent protesters, including children, the displacement of refugees in neighboring countries, the use of chemical weapons banned by the Geneva conference, and the position of terrorist factions in the rebellion. The Republic of Belarus currently condemns foreign intervention in the Syrian crisis, as the two countries have a long history of trade together. There exists the fear that a new government would have stricter trade agreements and the current Syrian investors visiting Belarus would be recalled.//

//In the midst of the Arab Spring, Syria too had its protests, calling for the long-standing minority control of the Alawites to end. The Syrian government under Bashar Al-Assad attempted to suppress these protests, not hesitating to use military force. Eventually, a rebellion followed, including members of insurgencies such as Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. As the fighting and consequential suppression continued, many Syrian citizens fled into the neighboring regions and caused an influx of sometimes unwanted refugees, many of which now wait in Turkey. The use of chemical weapons by Assad’s regime has been confirmed by the UN as of September this year, further adding to the problem. The reaction of the international community was indignant (or you could say “the international community reacted indignantly), and many countries called for an end to hostilities. However, the call was promptly refused by the Syrian government. After the Assad regime used chemical weapons, military intervention was brought up within the international community and had widespread support, but a small group of countries, namely Russia and China, voted down the proposition. Many of the aforementioned countries, not just Russia and China, currently have trade relations with Syria and believe a new pro-western government would make things difficult for them. The previously stated problems, of refugees flocking to neighboring countries, and possible extremist involvement, still stand. The refugees have strained the governments in nearby countries in their efforts to sustain the displaced populace, and the involvement of Islamic extremist organization spells a bad omen for the stability and international peacefulness of a new Syrian government should the rebellion succeed.//

//My own solution to the Syrian crisis, from the Belarusian viewpoint, involves the immediate ceasing of hostilities in the region without foreign military action, but foreign economic and humanitarian aid. Belarus also agrees with/calls for/wants replacement of officials, but not replacement of the Syrian government itself or its policies. Rather than introduce a new form of a possibly unstable government with war, the old government may stay in place to appease Syria’s trade partners. New officials will also appease the Syrian people if the old ones are given compensation to abandon their positions, which has a varying feasibility depending on the compensation offered (Maybe split it into 2 sentences.). The Responsibility to Protect should be solely in humanitarian aid after the fighting is over. It is feasible for the international communities to restrict foreign military action in Syria so they feel that their own sovereignty is unchallenged, and allow the humanitarian aid to arrive while the people would assuredly welcome it. On the topic of the Security Council: once more, foreign military intervention is unwelcome, and it is possible that the UNSC’s forces may contend with the very people they were sent to assist; Al-Nusra, through social media, has made its views on the West clear, and marching on the White House of the U.S. doesn’t bode well. In addition, the Arab League should also be avoided, as the group recently ejected Syria for its harsh suppression tactics, and bad blood may still be boiling (maybe say this more formally). Belarus has had its own protests, albeit not as extreme, due to a degrading economy. The general economic prosperity of a country brings with it a satisfaction of the people. It is somewhat, but perhaps not completely, with the minority control being an issue, feasible to end hostilities with an improved economy. Current economic sanctions not only paralyze the Syrian government’s ability to generate income, but further paralyze the possibility of that money reaching the Syrian people, worsening their situation, and making insurgencies all the more appealing. With an end to hostilities, the refugee crises can be attended to and sorted out. Cooperation between neighboring countries can lead to a speedy resolution of the displacement, and the Syrian people can be returned to their homeland. In concern to the atrocities of the Syrian government and the Free Syrian Army, both should be charged, but the Syrian government must have its chemical weapons confiscated and their production ceased. Sanctions that could hinder development would do nothing but worsen the situation. Belarus would prefer to have things back to the way they were. To ensure the protection of the current and previous supporters of the Assad regime, the new officials must be balanced, and Syrian politics must be monitored as well, to keep an eye out for any injustices on either side. If Syria was to gain a new wave of politicians without military intervention to appease its people, but with the same government to appease its allies, and was it to receive humanitarian and economic aid to improve its infrastructure, not only would the economic statuses of its trade partners rise, but the satisfaction of the people would ensure a longstanding time of peace.//