Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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Decades of corruption have paradoxically led to the Syrian Army's resilience in the face of a multifront war and tens of thousands of defections.
The Lebanese Armed Forces, one of the few state institutions that is regarded by most citizens as trustworthy and legitimate, continues to reflect the communal and political cleavages of broader Lebanese society.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State’s takeover of Mosul in the summer of 2014 was a dark moment for Iraq’s military whose four well-armed divisions rapidly disintegrated.
The issue of unifying Kurdish military forces has been on the Kurdish region’s public agenda since 1991. Seventeen years later, the various peshmerga forces remain divided along partisan lines.
The Syrian government has had a dual approach to its wartime economy, intervening when necessary but often adopting a laissez-faire stance towards traders.
While desertions have contributed to the emergence of an armed rebellion since early fall 2011, they have failed to critically weaken the Syrian regime’s army.
Jordan’s Hirak grassroots movement of 2011-2013, recognized as a social and political protest movement born out of discontent in the East Bank hinterlands, has reflected the country’s rising political contention.
The Syrian capital’s military housing has helped cement bonds between army officers, which has buoyed the Assad regime during the current crisis.
Food security has been eroded in Syria over the last few years, with production of main crops falling by varying degrees mainly due to the impact of the conflict on fertilizers, the disruption of trade routes, and the reduction of subsidies on fuel.
A look at how to sever the link between criminality and conflict in Syria.