Post 3- Syria

    Nationalism is a view that one has of his own nation state and their views and interests and that they have more importance and meaning than those of others. Post World War I Middle East was split in an agreement with Great Britain and France. Greater Syria was split between these two powers. This created volatility between the conflicting interests of the Lebanese, Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, and Israelis. There has been unrest and conflict in the nation ever since. Syrian nationalist feel that the Greater Syrian lands should be unified and restored. This would be one Arab nation transcending the borders drawn during the Ottoman Empire. There has been conflict against the Assad regime in Syria coming from rebels fighting for Islam. Assad belongs to a small minority population of Shiite Islam called Alewite. Most of the higher ranking military in this region is of this population and a lot of the Alewives stood behind the Assad regime. A majority of Syrians are Sunni Arabs and they have become divided during the regime. Most of the rebels in the Free Syrian Army, another rebel group fighting Assad, are Sunnis.  The fighting and political unrest is only getting worse in the area. Zakaria sees a rise in nationalism as a danger in rising countries due to the people pushing their ideals more than ever and it becoming more difficult to work towards a common goal. It will be harder to work together to solve global issues, such as the human rights violations in Syria, which is why Zakaria sees this as such a problem. This can also been seen in the views of some of the rebel groups in Syria. Syria, which is considered a rogue state by the United States is furthering themselves for solving the issue at hand due to this. Zakaria considers a rogue state as a nation who is percieved as a threat. They feel their views are correct and disagree with the leadership in place, therefore, causing the unrest and violence we see today.

    There is inequality seen in Syria both economically and gender wise. Economically, Syrians are seeing a widening gap between those extremely well off and those in poverty. There has been consecutive droughts which have led to the agriculture business to decline and agriculture provides jobs for almost 20 percent of the sector. People are now moving to more urban areas causing rises in populations in these cities and less areas for shelter and livable conditions. So due to this, regions that are more rural, specifically the southern and eastern portions of Syria, experience much more poverty and much harsher living conditions.  A lot of these problems have led to the civil unrest in Syria.  Gender inequality is a huge concern seen in Syria, especially due to all of the violence within the county. Violence against women has been used as a weapon of war. Women are being sexually assaulted and even murdered because of their gender. The takeover of rebel groups in certain areas have furthered the inequality these women face. Many of the Syrian laws that helped promote gender equity are now being overruled. Some of these regions have even enforced women to wear the hijab, and the full length robe, the abaya, even though not everyone identifies with the same religion. Women have also been denied access to public amenities such as transportation and education. These acts are pushing back what progress has been made in these regions already for gender equality.