The Syrian uprising, which began in 2011, started as a peaceful demonstration movement but turned into a protracted armed conflict. Protests in Syria were sparked by the same aspirations that fuelled the broader Arab uprisings: a yearning for political freedom, social justice and an end to autocratic rule. However, the response of the Syrian regime to these peaceful protests was swift and brutal, setting the stage for a shift from peaceful opposition to armed resistance. As the conflict intensified, the influence of armed opposition groups, both formal and informal, grew in significance.

The Syrian conflict did not evolve in a vacuum. Regional powers such as Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq played pivotal roles, each advancing their strategic interests. Their participation in the conflict was driven by a mix of ideological, sectarian and geopolitical motivations.

In this chapter, we look at the wider context of the Arab uprisings and then focus specifically on Syria's experience. We consider the key events that shaped the conflict between 2011 and 2021, which include: Hezbollah's intervention, the use of chemical weapons, the rise of non-state armed actors, Russian military deployment and the fall of Aleppo. The chapter also identifies the key factors that have enabled the Syrian regime to survive, although survival has come at a high cost to regime, people and country, as demonstrated in Chapters 4 and 5. Finally, we focus on how the regime has financed the war through illicit trade and narcotics, which has not only helped it endure but also to chart a diplomatic course back to the Arab League.

THE ARAB UPRISINGS

The Arab uprisings started in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa (Haas & Lesch 2012). It is instructive to identify the deep-seated socio-economic challenges that primed the region for the uprisings. Many states in the Arab world were, and remain, characterized by high rates of youth unemployment, poverty and economic inequality. Disparities in wealth distribution and a lack of socio-economic mobility had left the populace frustrated and disillusioned. However, these economic grievances were not the only cause for frustration. Rather, they interacted with a second crucial element: political disenfranchisement (Lynch 2012; Roberts et al. 2015).