As the so-called Geneva II talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement and a deal to let humanitarian aid into Syria continue to flounder, diplomats are desperately trying to find ways of establishing a sustained dialect. Clearly, almost all parties want to end the Syrian Civil War, though each side has their own goals in mind. Given this, one of the problems may be our focus on ending something with the hope of starting something new.
What our diplomats need to do is focus on starting something new to end something old. Although this may sound like a nonsensical, inapplicable distinction thoughtlessly made by a counselor who is offering no viable solutions, it is an important one that helps determine what is prioritized in the problem solving process. Everything in life ends; the question is whether or not it will end with death. After all, you can continually try to end undesirable aspects of your life until you are left meandering in a catatonic state just existing, because ending something does not mean you have the ability to start something new or something better than what you had before. To put this into context, what matters to the Syrian People, anti-Assad groups, and pro-Assad groups is what happens after the fighting is ended. As of now, pro-Assad groups view ceasefire to the conflict to mean Assad loses and Syria falls into chaos; whereas, anti-Assad groups see an ceasefire as a failure to address the issues that started the conflict and an opening for retaliation by Assad. Wars happen for reasons and wars sometimes end when those reasons no longer become relevant, yet conflicts can only be resolved when viable solutions are found. This means diplomats must focus on building a vision or path forward that all parties can live with and act on. As such, the International Community can solve Syrian Civil War if we help the Syrians find what they cannot on their own, i.e. a meaningful reconciliation and reconstruction plan.
Comments
|
Read old posts
April 2020
|