The divisions in every country are unique and hard to compare to the divisions of other countries. Furthermore the conflicts on Syria today cannot be understood without looking at the long history of Syria. This course helped me understand the complexity of U.S. intervention in Syria and the history of intervention from countries such as Russia, Iran, Turkey and Israel. Every group fighting in Syria has its own motives and not any one group can fully be endorsed by the U.S. Furthermore, endorsing one group, like the Kurdish fighters in the north, can put the U.S. at odds with our own ally, Turkey. This course also helped me understand the motives behind Assad’s regime and his willingness to take drastic steps to hold onto power at all costs. There is no easy solution to ending the civil war in Syria and millions of Syrian refugees are paying the costs of this ongoing war.
