State Fragility and Humanitarian Crisis in Syria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

State Fragility and Humanitarian Crisis in Syria

Ewelie, C. Justice, Omenihu C. Nwaorgu
Department of Political and Administrative Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt. P.M.B 5323 Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract: The paper examined state fragility and humanitarian crisis in Syria. The main thesis of the paper is that the more the fragility of the Syrian state, given some extraneous and endogenous factors fuelling the humanitarian crisis in Syria. The paper relied on secondary sources of data and for the purpose of clarity and deeper understanding of the subject matter adopted the Dependency theory as its framework of analysis. One of the assumptions of the dependency theory is that events in one country is conditioned by the actions or inactions of a country in a relationship of unequal exchange. The paper observed that the crescendo of humanitarian crisis in Syria is a result of the adverse politics of state fragility as reinforced by negative external and internal objective conditions. It is recommended in the paper, inter alia, that democratic values should be upheld and good governance should be a sundry principle for the overall interest of Syrians.

Keywords: Interest, conflict, dependency, democratic, political.

I. INTRODUCTION

The primacy of the state in a civilised society cannot be over-emphasised. Aside from being a precipice of the Aristotelian teleology, the state performs some basic functions such as protection of lives and property, harmonisation of the ever-conflicting interests of man, ensuring that the state’s resources are fairly and evenly distributed, and the promotion of the welfare of the people. The ultimate effect of the efficacy of the state in performing the above basic functions is that it pulls society out of the Hobbesian state of nature and reorders society for a more salubrious state-society relation which can guarantee a just, peaceful and egalitarian society for self and collective actualisations of the people. However, it appears that the ‘hands of some modern states like Syria are tied’, and are therefore, incapacitated within the purview of the state-centric prism and force of reinventing society for national development.

An implication of the above is that the Syrian state is fragile. It should be noted that state fragility and weakness are often used interchangeably (Manuel, 2017). According to the World Bank (2009), a state is fragile if it: (a) is eligible for assistance (i.e., a grant) from the International Development Association (IDA);

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