Syria
Adil and Felipe
The Civil War is considered to have started on March 15, 2011 and is currently ongoing.
Historical Background
The root of the conflict is xenophobia towards religious minorities. Most of the country is Sunni Muslim while the Assad regime is Alawi. Back when Syria was under the Ottoman empire the territory was split up into provinces based around ancient cities. These provinces had there own customs and people lived according their own culture. Later the french colonized and changed the borders several times. Then they attempted to enforce their own language and religion onto the area which indirectly favored the Syrian minorities because of the strong push away from Islam. This created a large wave of xenophobia among the Sunni majority. Later after Syria had gained its independence, the Assads came to power creating more xenophobia among Sunnis towards other ethnic groups in Syria.
The Conflict
The current conflict in Syria takes the form of open violence, more specifically a civil war. An example of the violence is in December 22, there were two suicide bombings in Damascus, killing 44 people. The war has displaced 6.5 million people in Syria and 3 million people have fled. Kurds specifically have fled to Iraq. Christians and Shia Muslims have been executed by Islamic fundamentalists. As the war got bloodier, refugees from other countries (Lebanese and Iraqis) have returned to their home countries.
Spatial Extent
The Syrian Civil War primarily impacts Syria, but countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and North Africa have been impacted due to Syrian refugees.
Scale
The conflict has played out on local, regional, and global scales. On a local scale, there's open violence in Syria due to a civil war. On a regional scale, countries neighboring Syria are being filled with refugees. On a global scale, Syrians are also seeking asylum from 90 countries outside of the Middle East. Due to the chaotic state of the country, its actually become a site of human trafficking for woman and children from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The UN has also been monitoring the conflict.
Syria: What's Behind the Conflict
Bibliography
http://www.istanbul-city-guide.com/map/country/syria-map.asp
http://www.necsi.edu/research/social/syria/
http://www.bbc.com/news
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.theatlantic.com/
http://www.iamsyria.org/
http://www.debate.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.quazoo.com
http://www.necsi.edu/research/social/syria/
http://www.bbc.com/news
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.theatlantic.com/
http://www.iamsyria.org/
http://www.debate.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.quazoo.com