Throughout the semester I have been researching the Syrian Government, the Islamic State within Syria, and both of their connection or allies in the battle for Syria but towards the end of the semester I focused more on the Syrian Government. For a little background information, the Syrian Civil War began on March 15, 2011 when protests in Damascus and the southern city of Deraa demand the release of political prisoners. During the protests, security forces shoot a number of people dead in Deraa, which triggered days of violent unrest that steadily spread throughout the nation. Since then the violence has escalated which has really made or broke political ties with Syria. As many are aware, Russia has been one of the closest allies to Assad and his regime. In this blog entry titled “The Syrian Government and its Allies, Both Old & New” it shows how Assad would like for Russia to expand their influence throughout the Middle East in order to counter the expansion of the United States and its allies. It also shows how due to outside threats such as radical rebels, other Middle Eastern countries are beginning to reconnect with Syria such as Tunisia.

While other Middle Eastern countries are beginning to reconnect with Syria, other Western countries are not so sure. In a blog entry titled “Rising Tensions between France & Syria,” it states how France and Britain was considering reestablishing ties with Assad for the same reason as Tunisia, to counter a greater threat such as ISIS. Alas, both countries decided against it as Britain states reestablishing ties “would likely end all hope of a political transition and push moderates into the arms of radical Islamist groups.” The Syrian government lost many political ties at the beginning of the Civil War, and even before, and while it has begun to regain some, and they still have Russia at their side, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will regain control of Syria anytime soon, at least not all of Syria.

As far as the perspectives of globalization go, Russia is very much a political realist and Tunisia is also, but not as much as Russia. Russia has always been in favor of a strong central government and they believe that Assad is the only person that can control Syria. As for Tunisia, by reconnecting with Assad, it means they believe more in him than any other group attempting to take control in Syria. For the Western Nations, such as France and Britain, they are the complete opposites as they are seen more as political idealist. A political idealist believes that while war can be necessary, they should do everything in their power in order to try to reduce its impact, if not avoid it entirely. They also believe in international ties in order to avoid war and while a strong government is good, there need to be more things within the government to balance it out.