CIA-The World Factbook Essay

As a member of the Arab League, an organization, of Arab States founded in 1945, Syria joined the Arab States in the War against Israel in 1948; and since then the two countries have been at war. Despite the defeat of the Arab army in 1948, there was another Arab- Israeli war, June of 1967. Heavy fighting took place between Syria and Israel. A truce was arranged within a few days, but not before Israel had occupied hundreds of square miles of territory in southwestern Syria. Incidentally, before acceding to the United Nations cease-fire, the Israeli forces took over control of the fortified Golan Heights commanding the Sea of Galilee. The strategic, heavily fortified plateau that is the Golan Heights is wary of war. The announcement of the union of the area into Israel in December 1981 added to Syria’s territorial losses. Syria has not accepted detachment of the Golan Heights from the Syrian motherland. As of October 1991, both Syria and Israel have engaged in on -and-off discussions of making peace. The countries have considered asking the U. S. to oversee an accord, which would make it more likely that American peace monitors would be put in place on the Heights. Israel has agreed to withdraw from the Golan, with the implicit understanding that the withdrawal will be total. The two sides have accepted the principle of equality– of â€Å"equality† of security arrangements on and around the Golan. Both countries, for instance, would remove their armed forces from the border region. However, the Syrians demanded that the demilitarization be symmetrical : Israel insisted that it could not pull back as far as Syria, since the Syrians having possession of the Heights would have had enormous topological advantage in the event of a surprise attack. There is an agreement that the Israeli withdrawal would take place gradually. Syria wants it completed in something close to 1 and a half years ,while Israel is asking for three. For the Syrians, the Golan is just a channel of saving grace, since Syria in its history of participation in the Arab- Israeli Wars, it has lost a lot of its territorial land. As of 1997 there have been no major breakthroughs. The Palestine Liberal Organization (PLO) as the name, implies is an independent state of Israel. Again this is about Syria’s membership in the Arab League. There have been repeated failures in tackling the Palestine question. With the emergence of the Palestine guerilla movement, and the PLO-Israeli attacks, Palestine is a constant reminder that inter-Arab unity should be achieved as soon as possible. Because of the PLO situation, the loss of Palestine and the continuing tragedy of the Palestinian people, there is disillusionment and political alienation in Arab country. Large Palestinian refugee groups have formed a an opulent and critical significance in Lebanon and Jordan. The very large Palestinian refugee conglomerate in Syria has been assured of Syrian sympathy for their cause. Although it is obvious that Syria’s compassion is politically rooted. The stark political sympathy that the Syrian government has for the independent state of Israel [which is the PLO] has a significant influence; on the inception of a specific question that this paper asks. How does Syria use terrorism in formulating the country’s foreign and defense policy as it places particular emphasis on its relationship with Israel? This paper uses terrorism as the abject â€Å"welding† channel to unify this study, not only due to the fact that terrorism is a very timely and relevant global political issue but also because terrorism is not a very unlikely strategy (any longer) when it comes to most strategies of defense which belong to Arab nation states. Schmuel Bahr, in his study â€Å"Bashar’s Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview† which appeared in the book â€Å" Comparative Strategy†, begins his research with how, â€Å" The Syrian regime—and to a certain extent modern Syria in a broader sense—is the handwork of Hafez al-Asad. † (353). Bahr also states that, â€Å"His thirty-year autocratic rule (before which he also had wielded considerable influence in the regime of his predecessor) has made distinguishing between the president and the state almost impossible. † (353). Eyal Zisser, on the other hand, writes in the journal article â€Å" Who’s Afraid of Syrian Nationalism? National and State Identity in Syria†, â€Å"Bashshar’s commitment to Arabism required no substantiation. He frequently stressed his loyalty to the Arab nation in public statements and depicted Syria as a fortress of Arabism. † (179). Zisser also reveals the following about the confidence the Syria has on itself as an independent country, â€Å"This state is no longer fragile, but rather is self-confident. † (196). An article (c.2007) devoted to the state of Syria, â€Å" Political Overview† , an article that was part of â€Å"The Syria Review 2007† presents that, â€Å"The U. S. government has labeled Syria a state-sponsor of terrorism. † (67). With regard to Syria’s defense history of utilizing terrorism as a political strategy Zisser writes, â€Å"The Syrian government has taken a generally aggressive stance against insurgent organizations that oppose its rule. Its efforts to suppress insurrection have generally been successful. Militants did manage to bomb a bus in Damascus in 1997, killing 20. † (68). The 2007 â€Å"CIA-The World Factbook—Syria† informs that the current government type of this nation is that of, â€Å" republic under an authoritarian, military-dominated regime. † (series # 02771527). Erik Knudsen in his â€Å"The Syrian-Israeli Political Impasse: A Study in Conflict, War and Mistrust. † , which had been part of the journal â€Å"Diplomacy and Statecraft† discusses the stand of Syria when it comes to its situation with Israel as far as the topic of peace goes—with,â€Å" Furthermore, the Israeli governments point out that Syria has displayed a reluctance to pursue a real and lasting peace. † (213). Finally, however, there appears to be known data which apparently communicates a message which is quite supportive of Syria’s foreign policy when it comes to military and governmental defense in Noriko Sato’s â€Å" On the Horns of the Terrorist Dilemma: Christian Syrians’ Response To Israeli ‘Terrorism’ † in the academic journal â€Å" History and Anthropology† and this known data contains this, â€Å" As related earlier, it is a prevailing understanding among Aleppienes (coming from Alepo, to mean Syrian Christians) that ‘terrorism’ is a byproduct of United States policy and that the Israeli military operations against the Palestinians are conducted in the guise of supporting American policy for combating ‘terrorism’. † (152).