Mandy @ POLI 333D

Security Council mulls Syria Resolution

In almost all articles on Syria which I have read, foreign interventions are implied as a determinant of Syrian (democratic) future. At first glance, the idea of “self-determination” in democracy – that a community has the right to govern itself and determines its own future – appears to have been undermined as the international community grants authority to interventions (by either other state actors or intergovernmental organizations like the UN and the Arab League). While in a deeper level of thought, interventions would be legitimate if it was for the purpose of humanitarian relief, or for satisfying the desire for external help of the Syrian majority. The two levels of contrasting thoughts lead to the question that: Are foreign interventions in anti-humanitarian countries still congruent with democratic ideals?

Personally, I don’t have a stance on what the international community should do in Syria. I have long aware that the media has been biased towards the “pro-democracy activists”, who in fact are responsible for many killings in Syria. Although I feel disheartening when I knew many of Syrian civilians have been killed, part of me wonders that if civil conflicts (/wars) should better be solved by the nation itself. (I hate to say this, but from history we have learnt that it is how countries evolve to be civilized.)

I believe that to solve my ambivalence towards foreign interventions, one solution is to re-conceptualize the meaning of democracy. As it has become more acceptable that sovereignty is no longer demarcated by territorial boundaries, but shared by actors beyond national frontiers, it has also been more reasonable to rethink the proper form and scope of legitimate political power. Relevant questions simply include: when and how should the international community respond to inappropriate behaviors of a state. By rethinking these questions, it is believe that a new conceptualization of the meaning of democracy in a globalized world, and of the impact of the international framework of political order/ideology on both democracies and non-democracies, can be formed to accommodate more extensive and effective global democratization.

p.s. Despite all these discussions among external actors have been incessant, it seems that the influences of these actors are still marginal. First, to get Russian and China support the draft resolution proposed by the Arab League and the UN is difficult. Second, the power of a resolution that lack military intervention and economic sanction is questionable, especially in a state where the pressure from large scale of domestic protests and international condemnations does not work. In sum, besides international stigmatization, it is unsure about how the international community can impact the Syrian government.

Read more:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/world/meast/syria-damascus-q-and-a/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

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