RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Assignment

BY:
MUHAMMAD ATHAR ZEB
SYRIAN CONFLICT CAUSES AND EFFECTS

INTRODUCTION

Since 2011 there is a crisis in Syria. The crisis with the start of civil war when 1000s of
people starts protests and took the streets in January 2011 to demand political reforms and
civil rights. The Syrian protesters are said to be motivated by the Arab spring. In Syria, the
people were protesting against the brutal rule of dictator president Bashar ul Assad who had
ruled Syria in the interest of relatively small elite since 2000. before Bashar ul Assad his
father was ruling Syria from the 1970s.

In the Syrian conflict thousand of casualties had occurred, in the first eighteen months, 60000
people died and till now 465000 Syrians have been killed in which most were civilians.
Other than that 12 million people have been displaced and more than a million injured.
Governmental forces and those which are opposing them are in continuous battle. the most
important thing is other countries or states are also involved in it. According to Karl
Thompson report Posted on December 14, 2016, in Global Development, Sociology in the
News conflict, Syria, war, research paper four main groups are involved in Syrian conflict or
war. These are,

1. The governmental forces of Bashar ul Assad backed by Russia and Iran.

2. The rebels backed by Saudis, turkey, and USA.
3. The Kurd backed by USA
4. ISIS, a jihadist movement.

All of the above which are involved in it have their interests. Due to the Syrian conflict,
significant policy challenges occurred since 2011 for countries involved in it.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Syria has been under conflict for a long time. There are various causes of conflict but
the main causes considered are sectarianism, will of power among different actors and
interests of other states.

RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To find out the main causes of the Syrian conflict.

To find out the geopolitical effects of Syrian war on the world.

To look at the policy challenges for countries involved in it.

To find out the solutions of the mess created due to this conflict.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research conducted will be with a qualitative approach as all the data will be sorted out
from various articles, newspapers, research papers, interviews, and magazines, etc. other than
these, observational methods and focused group discussions will be included in the research.

TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION

The nature of the research is qualitative, therefore readings, online citation, citation of
magazines, research papers, interviews, document analysis, and observational methods will
be used as a tool for data analysis.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 What are the main causes of Syrian conflict?

 What are the interests of the actors involved in Syrian conflict?
 Who is involved and why?
 Who is currently affected?
 What will be the later consequences of Syrian war?

SAMPLE FRAME

Civilian population of Syria and Government of Syria.

Actors involved in Syria;

ISIS,

State department of USA,

Russian government,

Turkish forces,

Foreign ministry of Iran, and neighbouring states of Syria.

UNDP and other foreign actors working in Syria.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The conflict in Syria has global impacts, especially on the Middle East. The involvement of
two major powers of the world i.e USA and Russia and other countries like Turkey, Saudi
Arabia, and Iran give it much importance.
Many state actors as well well as nonstate actors are directly or indirectly involved in it. Due
too these reasons this conflict have gain significance on international level. Many problems
have been arisen due to it, like the problem of refugees, the displacement of people in Syria,
the destructions caused by war, and the use of chemical and other weapons is also an issue in
Syria. The research on this topic will provide an understanding of global politics and policy
challenges for various states and it will help in evaluating the future consequences of the
crisis.

LOCALE OF STUDY

The research is based on the study of conflict in Syria. Syria officially the Syrian Arab
Republic is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon to the southwest, the
Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and
Israel to the southwest.

TIME FRAME

Suggestion of topic 2 days

Data collection 1 week

Representation of data 1 day

REFERENCES
 Sajid Karim Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (2016) BIISS
JOURNAL, Syrian Crisis: Geopolitics and Implications VOL. 37, NO. 2, APRIL 2016: 107-
132.

 BBC news article by Lucy Rodgers, David Gritten, James Offer, and Patrick Asare Syria:
The story of the conflict 11 March 2016 retrieved from
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868
 Al Jazeera Syria's civil war explained from the beginning On March 15, the war entered
its eighth year. 14 Apr 2018 Retrieved from
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/syria-civil-war-explained-
160505084119966.html

 Karl Thompson (December 14, 2016) Syria, war Causes and Consequences of The Civil
War in Syria https://revisesociology.com/2016/12/14/causes-and-consequences-of-the-
civil-war-in-syria/
 Kim Hua Tan, Alirupendi Perudin (June 12, 2019 )The “Geopolitical” Factor in the
Syrian Civil War: A Corpus-Based Thematic Analysis
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019856729

 Research article -The Incomplete Democracy and the Onset of War, Causes and
Consequences: A Case Study of Syria Jamali, J Pol Sci Pub Aff 2019, 7:1