- The Strategist - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au -
The Syrian crisis is testing international leadership, including Australia’s
Posted By Tanya Ogilvie-White on April 30, 2013 @ 12:01
The two year conflict in Syria has been shining a very bright light on divided great power attitudes to international leadership. It’s not a flattering picture. Despite appalling suffering, the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the internal displacement of millions, and the creation of hundreds of thousands of refugees, the Security Council has been unable to agree on what action to take in response to the Syrian civil war. There are many reasons for this deadlock, but the roots lie in a fundamental clash among the Security Council’s permanent five members on the nature of responsible international leadership. On one side, France, the UK and the US favour a proactive role, believing that intervening in the domestic affairs of another state is justified in cases of gross human rights abuses; on the other, China and Russia believe that state sovereignty is sacrosanct and resist the imposition of sanctions and the use of force in response to internal conflicts.
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[1] Image: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/800px-Flag-of-the-United-Nations.jpg
[2] appalling suffering: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324874204578440963846374622.html
[3] spoken out: http://www.unny.mission.gov.au/unny/120213_syria.html
[4] pledged to boost this support by $24 million: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/carr-pledges-aid-boost-for-syria-refugees/story-fn3dxiwe-1226625529473
[5] Security Council deadlock: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130419/brahimi-urges-un-action-syria-stalemate
[6] extent and location of Syria’s WMD: http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/syria/chemical/
[7] fractious nature of the Syrian opposition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15798218
[8] France, the UK: http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/18/britain_france_claim_syria_used_chemical_weapons
[9] Israel: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/23/us-syria-israel-idUSBRE93M07H20130423
[10] codified in the 1925 Geneva Protocol.: http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Bio/1925GenevaProtocol.shtml
[11] all possible options: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17356556
[12] urgent efforts to locate and secure Syria’s chemical (and possibly biological) weapons assets.: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2013/0418/Pentagon-sends-troops-to-Jordan-to-counter-Syria-chemical-weapons-threat
[13] Australia Group: http://www.australiagroup.net/en/origins.html
[14] recently described the situation in Syria: http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/2013/bc_mr_130422.html
[15] fact-finding missions: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44768&Cr=syria&Cr1=
[16] Wikimedia Commons.: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag-of-the-United-Nations.jpg