Syrian Civil War Research Articles

LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC CORRESPONDENCE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS

Discourse affects the semantics of lexical units. Discursively dependent semantics presents a challenge for intercultural communication. This study proposes a method for identifying the discursively dependent semantics of lexical units through an analysis of the discourse on the conflict in Syria, presented in the Russian and French press. The proposed methodology is based on the analysis of the structure of lexical-semantic fields (LSF) of lexical units included in the discourse, and allows us to achieve technological efficiency in the analysis and formalize the results. As a result of the comparative analysis of the cooccurrence of lexical units within the French- and Russian-language discourses, it was found that the lexical units forming the classes of conditional equivalence have significant differences at the level of the structure of lexical-semantic fields due to the peculiarities of media coverage of the Syrian conflict in Russia and France. The difference at the level of LSF of the same-named units significantly affects the semantics of lexical units and, thus, modifies its pragmatic effect. These data should be taken into account when translating.

Analysis of the Role of the United Nations and Its Humanitarian Organizations in Solving the Human Rights Issues --Taking the Syrian Refugees as an Example

In March, 2011, the ongoing Syrian civil war has commenced, resulted in massive displacement and created one of the most severe humanitarian crises of the 21st century. This paper explores the effectiveness of the United Nations and its humanitarian organizations in addressing the human rights issues of Syrian refugees. The paper thoroughly examines the various efforts undertaken by the UN and its humanitarian organizations to provide aid and support to the millions of Syrians displaced by the conflict. It discusses the strategies that have been put into place to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of the refugees, such as shelter, healthcare, education, and resettlement programs. However, despite these efforts, the paper illustrates the challenges encountered by the UN and its humanitarian organizations in effectively handling a crisis like this, including political restrictions and constrained resources. A detailed analysis is presented of how these obstacles impact the efficiency of international aid and the overall management of the crisis. Later on, the paper puts forth possible solutions towards the refugee crisis, suggesting methods like humanitarian visa schemes and the establishment of SEZs, which are designed to offer safer and more legal routes for refugees to protect their human rights.

Just War: Critical Discourse Analysis of US Presidential Speeches

War discourse plays an important role in the current political and media agenda. This CDA-based study aimed at identifying how the nature of conflict affects the discursive practices used for conflict representation. The concept of war discourse was thoroughly described in view of a just war tradition. Two contexts of extensively covered conflicts were chosen for investigation, namely the American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. These military conflicts that seem different at first sight were mediated by direct and indirect US involvement. The research data were drawn from two US Presidents’ speeches and examined through CDA (van Dijk 1993, 2005), relating language use to its social, political and historical context. The analysis revealed a number of identical war discourse elements, their linguistic and extralinguistic (historical and cultural) peculiarities. These elements include a) the US conflict management strategies, b) negative other-presentation, c) positive self-presentation, d) a historical context of the US participation in similar conflicts, and e) a call to action. Combined together, these elements form a typical pattern, which can be used for both text analysis and text production.

Российско-американские отношения конца XX – первой четверти XXI века: тенденции и перспективы

The article studies the relations between Russia and the USA in the late 20th – first decades of the 21st centuries as a central problem of modern international relations. The analysis is performed in the historicalpolitical retrospect, from the 1990s to the present day. When it comes to the 1990s, viewed as a time of friendship and partnership, the reasons for the rapprochement between the two countries are described, as well as the events of the late 1990s – eastward NATO expansion and the NATO bombing of Belgrade – which were the turning point for the decline in Russia–US relations. Talking about the 2000s – 2010s, the author indicates the contradictions in the development of the bilateral relations, namely, a trend towards both improvement (establishment of the NATO–Russia Council following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the “reset” policy in the late 2000s) and deterioration (as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Russo-Georgian conflict in August 2008, Syrian civil war, Ukrainian political crisis and the accession of Crimea to Russia in 2014). According to the author, Russian-American relations over the past decade (2014–2024) could be described as hostile, which eliminates the possibility for their normalization through direct contacts between the two parties. The downward trend in Russia– US relations, which emerged in the late 1990s and continued to grow during the 2000s – 2020s, can be explained by the two countries’ irreconcilable positions on the system of international relations. The United States seek to create a unipolar – Americentric – world, while Russia insists on multipolarity. According to the author, the only way to improve relations between Russia and the USA is to stabilize the system of international relations. This problem is discussed in the final part of the article.

Assessment of the response to kidney patients' needs in disaster-stricken Syria.

The major fighting activities in the Syrian conflict have subsided, but the country continues to deal with significant political, economic, and psychosocial consequences that gravely impact the healthcare system, including the care of patients with kidney disease. The purpose of this manuscript is to review some of the problems faced by kidney patients in postconflict Syria and their available and proposed remedies. Many challenges, such as unfair, poorly planned, and poorly organized distribution of resources, suboptimal quality-monitoring infrastructure, psychosocial barriers, and workforce shortages, impede the delivery of quality care and negatively impact outcomes. The negative impact of these problems is not uniform and tends to affect certain areas more than others because of geopolitical factors imposed by the conflict. After prolonged conflicts, healthcare resources remain limited for prolonged periods, leading to inadequate care, poor outcomes, and worsening inequities. Involvement of the international community and expatriate nephrologists is essential to guide care delivery and improve outcomes. The lessons learned from the Syrian conflict apply to many limited resources and disaster situations.

Understanding Syrian migration in Lebanon: a methodological framework.

Wars, crises, and climate change are just a few of the worldwide concerns that have resulted in the forced relocation of millions of people. After 12 years of conflict in Syria, millions of Syrians are still displaced in the neighbouring countries, and their conditions have worsened due to the economic and socio-political crisis of the region. This paper reports on a study conducted in Lebanon as part of the EU Horizon-funded project ADMIGOV - Advancing Alternative Migration Governance. It describes the methodological framework used to study Syrian migration in Lebanon and sheds light on the phenomenon's patterns, challenges, and impacts. In our study, we opted for a mixed method. It is built on a large corpus of primary data collected over the course of years of intensive, in-depth fieldwork and the author's immersion in the community. Alongside observations, quantitative and qualitative phone interviews were conducted to obtain the perceptions of displaced Syrians living in informal tented settlements in rural Lebanon and an incomplete building in the city of Saida. This interview data is accompanied by primary and secondary data sources, including the findings of other European research projects, statistics from UNHCR and IOM, and academic and press articles. Our research revealed the difficulties Syrians displaced in Lebanon encounter while navigating the challenging situation they are trapped in. Based on a case study approach, it unveils similarities and differences determined by the government's no encampment policy that led to self-settled practices across the country. This approach helped in understanding the challenging dynamic created by weak public institutions and their failure to guarantee the observance of basic human rights, compromising displaced Syrians safety. The weakness of public institutions and their failure to guarantee the observance of basic human rights has compromised displaced safety. Moreover, even though the development interventions and aid assistance have been necessary for Syrians' survival, they proved insufficient, and unequally distributed by location evidencing the inefficiencies of the majority of development aid projects. The findings contribute to an enriched understanding of the situation of Syrians in Lebanon and offer insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working in the field of forced migration and humanitarian responses.

Türkiye’s and the EU’s Coordinated and Divergent Approaches to the 2011 Syrian Crisis

The Syrian crisis has prompted immediate reactions from the EU and a few other countries, including the US, Russia, and Türkiye, as well as some of their proxies. This research purposefully limits itself to examining Türkiye’s and the EU’s reactions to the Syrian civil war. According to the study’s results Türkiye and the EU have differences and similarities in six key policy areas: (1) Assad’s oppressive actions against its people drew criticism from Türkiye and the EU. (2) Türkiye and the EU have suffered as a result of the ISIS danger resulting from the Syrian civil conflict. (3) Türkiye and the EU both have humanitarian concerns and have made an effort to assist Syrian refugees. (4) Türkiye has engaged in two military operations in northern Syria in opposition to the YPG. The EU denounced these military maneuvers by Türkiye. (5) The EU and Türkiye have had discussions over the issue of foreign fighters. The EU criticized Türkiye as it failed to secure its borders, and as a result, foreign fighters utilized the country as a transit between Syria and European nations. (6) Despite opposition from the EU, Türkiye has insisted on creating a “safe zone” in Syria for Syrian refugees.

An analysis of paediatric clinical presentations in Northwest Syria and the effect of forced displacement, 2018–2022

BackgroundOne in six children worldwide lives in a region exposed to armed conflict. In conflicts, children are among the most vulnerable, and at risk of adverse health outcomes. We sought to describe trends in child and adolescent morbidity in northwest Syria (NWS) and understand how forced displacement affects clinical utilisation during the Syrian conflict. MethodsRetrospective data between January 2018 and December 2022 were obtained from the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), a non-governmental organisation that operates health facilities in NWS. After initial descriptive analyses were completed, we performed a seasonal-trend decomposition to estimate the seasonality of clinical presentations. We subsequently employed a multivariate regression model incorporating age, gender, residency status, season, and a random district-level intercept to measure the association between the odds of clinical consultation and forced displacement. FindingsAcross 51 reporting SAMS facilities, 2,687,807 clinical consultations were studied over a five-year period. Seasonality was demonstrated for every clinical consultation category. Higher levels of forced displacement were associated with increased odds of consultations for nutrition, trauma, NCDs and mental health and decreased odds of consultation for communicable diseases. Aside from traumatic injury, internally displaced persons (IDPs) had higher AORs of clinical consultations compared to host populations. InterpretationForced displacement differentially impacts clinical utilisation among children in northwest Syria, and the effects of displacement persist for at least six months. Clinical needs vary by host/IDP status, sex, age, and season. This study can assist policymakers in forecasting the health needs of children in northwest Syria.

Atrial fibrillation inpatient management patterns and clinical outcomes during the conflict in Syria: An observational cohort study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia worldwide. However, there is no data on AF inpatient management strategies and clinical outcomes in Syria. The study aims were to review the inpatient management of patients with AF and assess cardiovascular (CV) mortality in a tertiary cardiology centre in Latakia, Syria. A single-centre retrospective observational cohort study was conducted at Tishreen's University Hospital, Latakia, Syria, from June 2021 to June 2023. Patients ≥16years of age presenting and being treated for AF as the primary diagnosis with or without a thromboembolic event were included. Medical records were examined for patients' demographics, laboratory results, treatment plans and inpatient details. Studied outcomes include inpatient all-cause and CV mortality, ischemic and bleeding events, and conversion to sinus rhythm (SR). The study included 596 patients. The median age was 58, and 61% were males. 121 patients (20.3%) were known to have AF. A rhythm control strategy was pursued in 39% of patients. Ischemic and bleeding events occurred in 62 (11%) and 12 (2%), respectively. CV and all-cause mortality occurred in 28 (4.7%) and 31 patients (5%), respectively. The presence of valvular heart disease (VHD) (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 9.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.7 to 55.1, p < .001), thyroid disease (aOR: 9.7, 95% CI = 1.2 to 91.6, p < .001) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (aOR: 82, 95% CI: 12.7 to 71, p < .001) were independent risk factors of increased CV inpatient mortality. Syrian inpatients admitted with AF in Latakia are relatively younger than those in other countries. Active thyroid disease, COPD and VHD were independent risk factors of inpatient CV mortality with AF.

Making sense of politics: how affective dispositions and everyday experiences connect young people with the political

ABSTRACT This study aims to understand the cognitive, affective and socially situated processes through which young people make sense of politics. We ask (1) how young people construct understandings of political issues, and (2) when these understandings facilitate their orientation to and connection with political issues. To answer these questions, we conducted 4 × 4 focus groups with groups of 15–30-year-old Dutch people, each time focusing on a, then current, political issue: the Syrian Civil War, the (so-called) US Muslim travel ban, the 2017 Dutch general election, and the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Our analysis of the group discussions shows that young people make sense of and become emotionally involved in political issues through: (a) feelings of indignation that link a political issue with one’s personal values, (b) media-facilitated affective orientations towards political actors that function as representations of a political issue, and (c) the connection of a political issue with meaningful social contexts and experiences. Our findings add to extant scholarly work on political learning by shedding light on the affective, situated and social processes through which political understandings and orientations are formed in young people.

The relationships between body image, self-esteem and quality of life in adults with trauma-related limb loss sustained in the Syrian war

BackgroundNumerous military soldiers have lost limbs as a result of the Syrian War. While there are variations between trauma-related amputations in military and civilian populations, both scenarios result in life-changing injuries. ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between body image, self-esteem, and quality of life (QOL) domains following trauma-related major amputation.It will be the first study in Syria on the correlation between self-esteem and body image. It will help improve our quality of care to meet patient needs and increase well-being, which in turn will help to address body image, self-esteem, and QOL. MethodA cross-sectional study that recruited 235 soldiers with amputations in two centers and two military hospitals in Latakia and Tartous. Patients were given an 81-item questionnaire that included the Amputee Body-Image Scale (ABIS), the Rosenberg Self-esteem (RSE) scale, the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, and unidimensional pain measures. The ANOVA test, a student's t-test, multiple linear regression, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were utilized for statistical analysis. ResultsThere was a strong relationship between body image, self-esteem, and QOL, with the presence of body image concerns significantly associated with lower self-esteem scores and lower QOL scores (p=0.001). Patients with phantom pain sensation had significantly reduced self-esteem (p =0.001), greater body image concerns (p =0.001), and lower scores in all domains of QOL. We found that body image and self-esteem impacted the psychological, social, and environmental domains. After controlling for pain level and number of co-morbid conditions, body image and self-esteem did not predict WHOQOL-BREF scores, with the exception of the environmental domain, where no pain and low self-esteem predicted better environmental domain scores. ConclusionPatients' body image and self-esteem were greatly impacted by lower-limb amputations. Additionally, phantom pain further impacted self-esteem, body image, and QOL. The image of the body had a profound effect on psychological, social, and environmental domains, and self-esteem was influenced by almost all aspects of QOL.

Risk and time preferences following war evidence from Syrian children

War causes disruption. In this study, we examine risk and time preferences of young children from Syria as they were exposed to the Syrian war. We measure children's risk and time preferences using incentivized games. To discern the effect of the war from other confounding effects, we compare children born in Syria and exposed to the war with children living in the Turkish side of the border and not exposed to the war. We find that conflict affects behavior. After controlling for demographics and cognitive ability, children exposed to the war take more risks. We do not find a significant impact of exposure to the war on time preferences or on impulsivity.

A game theoretic conflict analysis model with linguistic assessments and two levels of game play

In a conflict scenario, the domestic and international stake holders vye to safeguard their specific vested interests and objectives, like in the Syrian and Afghan conflicts. Knowledge about the position of domestic players can help both domestic and international players determine the root causes of conflict and work in groups to resolve the divergent issues. Due to complex nature of conflicts, it is pertinent to study conflict at domestic and international levels separately. For this purpose, we design a two-level conflict analysis model based on game theory and linguistic assessments of players. The first level deals with local players by playing a game between each of them in view of local issues and taking into account the local grouping. At the second level, game is played between local groups and international players regarding multiple issues. In this way, all the parties calculate the gains or losses of comparable actions of each other. Thus, the proposed model provides a comprehensive study of conflict. This paper studies Syrian conflict to validate the conflict analysis algorithm and explain the computations and results.

Assessing Key Factors of the Syrian Conflict Influencing Farmers’ Migration Intentions

This study aims to identify the migration patterns of Syrian farmers in northern Aleppo and to investigate the main factors affecting their migration patterns. In this context, the study data were obtained through face-to-face surveys with a total of 210 farmers from 17 villages in three administrative districts of Aleppo Governorate using a proportional sampling method. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a logistic regression model. According to the results of the study, education level, land size, and household income were found to decrease the tendency to migrate. On the other hand, the factors that increase the tendency of farmers to migrate include being temporarily settled in the region and having family members abroad as refugees. As the war-induced environment has reduced participation in non-agricultural work, more farmers consider agriculture as their main source of livelihood.

Interactive 360° media for the dissemination of endangered world heritage sites: the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria

Since the onset of conflict in Syria in 2011, several heritage sites have suffered partial or complete destruction. The ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2013, alongside five other Syrian heritage sites. Between 2015 and 2017, Palmyra experienced the loss of nearly 40% of its historic buildings and landmarks. The site’s remote location and ongoing armed conflict pose additional challenges in accessing and preserving it.This paper introduces an interactive online platform employing 360° media to document and disseminate information about the world heritage site of Palmyra. The platform contributes to the safeguarding process of Palmyra, facilitating public engagement and interaction with the site. It also has potential applications for other sites in Syria and beyond. The platform allows users to explore both archival and current information of damaged historical monuments and buildings, revealing their layered histories before and after demolition. Employing interactive 360° media, similar to applications like Google Street View, the platform offers a reality-based digital environment. Users can virtually move into different buildings or follow specific pathways within the site, accessing archival information and documentation about particular monuments and buildings along their journey.This project serves as a unique informational resource for decision-makers and policy planners, aiding in the understanding of the site and the development of relevant strategies and recommendations. It also proves beneficial as an educational tool. The collective understanding fostered by this platform is expected to positively influence post-conflict restoration and reconstruction plans, making it an invaluable asset for research and educational purposes.

A RECENTLY DISCOVERED LETTER FROM CAPTAIN ARTHUR CONOLLY

ABSTRACT This article publishes a recently discovered letter apparently written by the 19th-century British intelligence officer Arthur Conolly. Conolly is best known as the author of the term 'The Great Game' in connection with Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia during the mid-19th century. The letter was written in April 1841 while Conolly stopped on the bank of the Amu Darya River, the northern boundary of Afghanistan en route to Bukhara. He was travelling partly in an attempt to rescue a fellow British officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stoddart, who was detained there. The mission failed and both men were executed in Bukhara the following year. The letter is addressed to the Austrian general August Giacomo Jochmus, who was the commander of the combined forces of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and Austria during the Syrian War of 1839–1841. The letter was discovered by the authors in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art in Moscow.

The discourse of the Arab and Iranian electronic press on sectarian conflicts (Sunni - Shiite) in Syria - Yemen and Iraq

The discourse of the Arab and Iranian electronic press on sectarian conflicts (Sunni - Shiite) in Syria - Yemen and Iraq

Correlation between Climate Change, Syrian Civil War, &amp; Gender Based Violence

This paper examines the claim that the 2006-2010 drought in Syria directly correlates to the high numbers of gender-based violence cases experienced by Syrian women and girls. The effects from the drought had on mental health, security, and migration all resulted in reduced safety for the well-being of women and girls. The Syrian 2006-2010 drought is a cause of climate change and increased tensions leading to the Syrian Civil War. The problems brought by the drought included forced migration, increased poverty, and a disproportionate effect of gender-based violence towards women and girls.

‘De Mistura ideas to reality are like windmills to Don Quixote’: A UN mediator in the Syrian conflict

ABSTRACT This article assesses the agency of UN mediators through a single case-study of the UN mediator in Syria – Staffan de Mistura. Drawing on and contributing to an emerging research agenda, we argue that UN mediators do have significant room of manoeuvre and thus the ability to conceive, negotiate, and execute key mediation policy-decisions. Our analysis bridges the literature on levels of analysis in International Relations (IR) and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). We developed a method that uses process-tracing to identify distinct mediation initiatives. We then pinpoint the mediator’s input on the conceptual and operational components of these main pillars of the mediation process. We question the prevailing perspective wherein the individual mediator has become conspicuous by their absence as the research gaze has been geared towards contextual constraints to mediation, the organization employing the mediator, and developing generic guides for good practice in ‘successful’ mediation. We put the study of the mediator’s agency firmly back into the comparative study of mediation, this way strengthening the validity of arguments that mediators’ personalities, skills and their individual characteristics shape their mediation initiatives just as they point up to considerable personal responsibility for which they need to be better held to account.

&lt;i&gt;Fiqh al-azma:&lt;/i&gt; Crisis Management of Theological Discourse in Syria

In the context of the ongoing civil war in Syria, the official Muslim clergy of the country, represented by the Ministry of Waqf Affairs, has developed a number of theological and legal resolutions on the most pressing issues, united by the common names Fiqh al-Azma (“crisis theology”). They pay special attention to the issues of criticism of takfirism, non-denominationalism, nationalism, explaining the meaning of jihād, the prohibition of riots and revolutions, the religious legitimacy of the national state, interreligious and interfaith dialogue and collaboration within one country, the differentiation of the concepts of Islamic politics and political Islam. This study analyzes the sources and methodology of constructing this theological concept, which, according to the developers themselves, is an example of a moderate renewal (tajdīd) of Islamic theological discourse, the main purpose of which is to confront Fiqh al-Fitnah “theology of turmoil” preached by various extremist groups. The paper also examines an example of one of the most original studies — on the principles of citizenship (muwāṭana) according to Islam, which largely incorporates the main features of the entire concept of Syrian crisis theology.