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Updated: One-stop list of resources on Syria, drought, climate change and unrest
We have written extensively on the topic of Syria, drought, natural resource mismanagement, climate change and social unrest, beginning in 2012, and followed by a broader look at the region in our report The Arab Spring and Climate Change in the winter of 2013. Since then, the situation in the country has deteriorated dramatically, and the complexities of the conflict on the ground continue to multiply. (more…)
Syria: Climate Change, Drought and Social Unrest
This article was also posted on AlertNet
by Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell
Syria’s current social unrest is, in the most direct sense, a reaction to a brutal and out-of-touch regime and a response to the political wave of change that began in Tunisia early last year. However, that’s not the whole story. The past few years have seen a number of significant social, economic, environmental and climatic changes in Syria that have eroded the social contract between citizen and government in the country, have strengthened the case for the opposition movement, and irreparably damaged the legitimacy of the al-Assad regime. If the international community, and future policy-makers in Syria, are to address and resolve the drivers of unrest in the country, these changes will have to be better explored and exposed. (more…)