1. William Polk, “Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to
Post-Assad”, The Atlantic.

 

            2. Caitlin
Alyce Buckley, “Learning From Libya,
Acting in Syria”,
Journal of Strategic Security 5, no. 2 (2012): 81.

 

            3. Francis
Fukuyama, “Why Is Democracy Performing so Poorly?” Journal of Democracy
26, no. 1 (2015): 11.

 

            4. Ingrid
Habets, “Obstacles to a Syrian Peace: The Interference of Interests”,
European View 15, no. 1 (2016): 83.

 

            5. Larry
Diamond, “Why are There no Arab Democracies?”, Journal of
Democracy 21, no. 1 (2010): 93.

 

            6. Harvard
Hegre, “Democracy and Armed Conflict”, Journal of Peace Research
51, no. 2 (2014): 159.

 

            7. Habets,
“Obstacles to a Syrian Peace: The Interference of Interests”, 78.

 

            Civil
wars are solved through negotiations that assure fairness. According to a
research study, democracy helps resolve armed conflicts such as the one facing Syria.6
Democratic institutions are the fundamentals of non-violent conflict
resolutions. Therefore, the international community has to ensure that the
dictatorship regime ends to solve the Syrian civil war. Various countries have
shown interest in the resolution of Syrian problems. For instance, the United States, Russia, and the European Union have
combined forces with the aim of ending Assad’s regime.7
Thus, the continued support to the Syrians on the fight for democracy will
enhance their success. Attaining justice in Syria
would ensure that the religious and political hatred surrounding the Assad’s
regime comes to an end as it happened in Libya. The economic and social
development support to a country facing civil war does not solve the unrest.
Hence, democracy is the best solution to the Syrian problems.

            Furthermore,
democracy in the Middle East countries has not
been thriving over the years. According to a study, only Lebanon has
ever had full democracy. The causes of dictatorship in this region can be
associated with the culture and religion adopted by these states making it
difficult to apply democracy.5
The political freedom in Muslim dominated Arab countries is very low compared
to the Muslim dominated non-Arab nations. In particular, this shows that the
issues surrounding Syria
are contributed by the effects of religion and culture. Political animosity in Syria is also due to the effect of Western countries
trying to introduce their policies in the Middle East.
The opposition supports these ideologies of democracy while the ruling regime
finds them inappropriate.

The war aims at
ensuring democracy in the country. However, some groups’ primary focus is to
have Assad out of power. Moreover, the war is no longer between the dictator
and the citizens, but it has changed and united the jihadist along with the army.
For instance, the army deserters’ families have been tortured by Assad’s
regime, but the ISIS has begun to protect them
to avoid further deaths.

            The
revolution to a peaceful and democratic country ended when the level of
atrocities and brutality to the Syrian protesters rose tremendously. The West
was introducing the means to ensure proper passing of power peacefully, but
Assad could not allow the Western influence in the country. The war involves
jihadist groups, regional actors, and the international community, thus
complicating the means to solve it.4
Many groups have teamed up against Assad’s governance since he declared Syria’s immune
to the revolution aiming at peace, dignity, and democracy. The study shows that
the jihadist groups have been working with the secular army teams to increase
attacks on the Assad government.

            The
civil war in Syria
has affected the governance of the country for many years. In 2012, the United
Nations reported death rate was almost 8,000 people.2
The study shows that the lessons learned from the incidences in Libya could be applied in Syria to overcome the war and
attain a democratic country. The protesters have faced police brutality in
their quest for the release of children as well as the implementation of
democracy to allow the citizens attain freedom. Another study shows that Syria’s political instability has been a result
of the rise in radical Islamist movements such as the ISIS.3
In particular, this situation affects the leadership causing the slow adoption
of democracy. Further, the Islamist movements have received adequate funding
from powerful nations causing chaos and massacre. The Syrian government is
facing significant challenges dealing with these radical groups hence making
the implementation of democracy impossible.

Literature Review

            Syria’s
involvement in the civil war has increased the international community’s need
to intervene and change the method of governance. The country needs help to
deal with the public issues from the powerful nations through non-violent
resolutions.1
The paper argues that democracy is dependent on the community’s view of
equality and inclusivity. In Syria,
inclusiveness is not a possibility as the jihadists have gained power and they
fight anyone supporting Assad as well as those with westernized ideas. Further,
the absence of democracy in Syria
also relates to the culture and religion surrounding the area. The support and
cooperation of the secular army with the jihadists will not ensure equality as
the two groups will continue to fight for their interests. They do not care
about freedom and democracy as they believe in the power of their weapons.
Additionally, the economic failure and the destruction of vital facilities will
increase the difficulty of achieving equality in the country. The paper uses
this hypothesis to develop the argument on the possibility of democracy in Syria.

Theoretical Framework

Currently or in the near future, democracy
in Syria
is not a possibility. The government serves the interests of the people
supporting non-revolution approach, while the rest of the citizens face the
secular army and the jihadists. Thus, achieving a democratic nation in Syria
is impossible. Besides, the civil war is not accelerated by the need for
democracy but for an individual’s interest and his policies to end the
presidency. Further, there have not been democratic institutions in most of the
Middle East countries; thus, achieving a
democratic nation is not a possibility. Even though there is no possibility of
democracy in Syria
in the near future, it could be achieved with time.