- 13 Jul 2016
The Battle for Syria: The International Relations of the Syrian Civil War
Abstract:
It is over five years since the outbreak of protests in Syria that eventually helped lead to a brutal civil war that shows no sign of ending. While today, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the US, Turkey and others are deeply involved in the conflict, the war is often depicted as a domestic struggle that sucked in international actors later on. However, this talk, based on Dr Phillips’ forthcoming book, argues that regional and international factors were key components of the civil war from its very beginning. The transformation from domestic crisis into stalemated civil war was greatly influenced by the international and regional environment in which it took place. While domestic causes should not be marginalised, their impact cannot be understood without appreciating the changing international context, particularly the perceived decline of US power in the Middle East and regional reactions to it.
About the Speakers
Christopher Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in the International Relations of the Middle East at Queen Mary, University of London and Associate Fellow at the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa programme. He has a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, published by Routledge as a book, Everyday Arab Identity, in 2012. Dr Phillips lived in Syria for two years, in Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia, and much of his research focuses on that country. Since the beginning of the uprising there in 2011, he has travelled to the region extensively, regularly consulted various government agencies and NGOS, and made numerous media appearances on outlets including BBC Newsnight, Radio 4’s Today Programme, BBC News, Al-Jazeera, Sky News and Channel 4 News. He has published academic articles in International Affairs, Third World Quarterly, Nations and Nationalism and Mediterranean Politics. His new book, The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East, will be published by Yale University Press in September 2016. He blogs at www.cjophillips.com and tweets at @cjophillips.
