The annual UN General Assembly in New York continues its work, but the nine-year-long Syrian conflict reduced to the footnote in a long list of world crises, The Global Mail reports. Last decade became one of the most unstable and unpredictable for diplomats of the world.
At the UN meeting, the lingering conflict in Syria is taking a back seat while tensions in the Persian Gulf and global trade wars take centre stage. Despite all diplomatic efforts, in 2019, in its ninth year, many Syrians understood the unresolved war has become another footnote in the next UN report.
However, there is one serious development regarding Syria. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that a long-awaited constitutional committee will be formed soon. According to the UN chief, the Committee would draft a new Syrian constitution, that move will help to put the war-torn country on track for a political solution.
Syria shouldn’t wait for West financial assistance until Assad is in power
The world apparently has long since tired of the war, and resigned itself to frozen conflict, with a nationwide cease-fire as the best possible scenario, the experts said. There is no initiative on the horizon to help resolve the Syrian crisis.
While entire towns and villages are in ruins, the West isn’t going to contribute to reconstruction plans as long as Bashar al-Assad is in power. His close relations with Russia makes West feel nervous.
But the most vulnerable point is Syria’s conflict was a domino effect of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings that began in late 2010. In one year, longtime rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya disappeared from the political arena. In 2019, a fresh wave of political changes in Africa is continuing. In other words, the lack of stability in Syria and the Middle East and the absence of the political settlement of the internal armed conflicts make impossible start of the reconstruction and investments in the region.
President Assad won’t go away, he has no plans to cut ties with Russia, long-time and reliable ally. West understands as well that pushing Assad out is no longer an option, but neither is rehabilitating him, or rebuilding the country in his presence. Under these circumstances, Syria’s war has a chance to remain only a footnote at UN meetings to come.
