The European Council on Foreign Relations

Belated but welcome: the world finds its voice on Syria

Date: 19th August 2011  |  Author: Susi Dennison ,

Categories: Rule of law, democracy and human rights, Europe and the world, Middle East and North Africa,
Tags: , arab spring, democracy, syria, un, human rights

Recently, I spoke at a conference on ‘Europe’s Common Security and Defence Policy, ethics and moral values’, organised by the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies in Brussels. By far the most powerful speaker that I heard at that event was Waddah Al Jord, a Paris-based Syrian. This economic adviser and journalist has, in the last few months, been moved to human rights activism in his efforts to turn the international community’s attention to Assad’s violent crackdown in Syria.

His calm, factual presentation of the desperate plight of those out demonstrating on the streets in his country was humbling. There was a deafening, uncomfortable silence around the conference centre in response to his question of why Europe and the US could not reflect their supposed values in taking a stronger position against the grave abuses that the Syrian government is carrying out against its own people.

This week, around five months into the Syrian protestors’ brave stand against the heavy weaponry of Assad’s regime, world leaders have finally answered this call. The US administration – which since March has been gradually working its way through its toolkit of condemnation, calling first for Assad to become part of the solution, then applying sanctions against key regime members – has finally co-ordinated with Cameron, Merkel and Sarkozy in a call for Assad to step aside. Catherine Ashton has followed suit, saying that there has been a "complete loss of Bashar Assad's legitimacy in the eyes of the Syrian people". The UN Security Council is drafting a resolution to implement multilateral sanctions.

Why has this taken so long? Partly because many key states have felt that the Syrian situation is one where the balance of power (oil; Syria’s strategic role in the Arab world; the support of the Saudi royal family), combined with fears that Syria’s precarious tribal equilibrium would unravel if Assad was no longer head of state, is such that the West has insufficient influence to do anything substantial to support the protestors. But  condemnation of the killings of Syrian people from both Lebanon and the Saudi King himself in late July and early August has meant that this argument has gradually been worn down.

According to reports, world leaders’ calls in the past few days for Assad to step down have given the courageous groups on the streets in Damascus, Homs and elsewhere a real boost. This serves as a reminder of both the purpose and the power of international action of this sort. Though Assad may deny to Ban Ki Moon that the attacks are still taking place, the solidarity of other heads of state shows the Syrian activists that though they  currently live in a closed country, their message is getting out, and that the thousands of deaths cannot simply be swept under the carpet.

The fact that European governments can have this impact on the lives of democratic activists, even in situations where they feel fairly powerless, should be a motivation for Europe to renew its commitment to having a values-based foreign policy.  Now that world leaders have finally taken the strong stance that Syrian demonstrators have for months been calling for, the challenge is to sustain this commitment to the cause of legitimate, rights respecting government. The fine sentiments we have heard in the past few days must be echoed in policies towards Syria and the region, through the negotiations at the Security Council and beyond.

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