Golan Heights profile

The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance which belies its size.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War. Most of the Syrian Arab inhabitants fled the area during the conflict.
An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control. Almost immediately Israel began to settle the Golan.
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Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Middle East war. Despite inflicting heavy losses on Israeli forces, the surprise assault was thwarted. Both countries signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place on the ceasefire line since 1974.
Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The move was not recognised internationally.
There are more than 30 Jewish settlements on the heights, with an estimated 20,000 settlers. There are some 20,000 Syrians in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect.
Strategic importance
Southern Syria and the capital Damascus, about 60 km (40 miles) north, are clearly visible from the top of the Heights while Syrian artillery regularly shelled the whole of northern Israel from 1948 to 1967 when Syria controlled the Heights.
The heights give Israel an excellent vantage point for monitoring Syrian movements. The topography provides a natural buffer against any military thrust from Syria.
The area is also a key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River. The area provides a third of Israel's water supply.
The land is fertile, with the volcanic soil being used to cultivate vineyards and orchards and to raise cattle. The Golan is also home to Israel's only ski resort.
Stumbling blocks
Syria wants to secure the return of the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal. In late 2003, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to revive peace talks with Israel.
In Israel, the principle of returning the territory in return for peace is already established. During US-brokered peace talks in 1999-2000, then Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak had offered to return most of the Golan to Syria.
But the main sticking point during the 1999 talks is also likely to bedevil any future discussions. Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border. This would give Damascus control of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee - Israel's main source of fresh water..
Israel wishes to retain control of Galilee and says the border is located a few hundred metres to the east of the shore.
A deal with Syria would also involve the dismantling of Jewish settlements in the territory.
Public opinion in Israel appears not to favour withdrawal. Opponents say the heights are too strategically important to be returned.
On-off talks
Indirect talks between Israel and Syria resumed in 2008, through Turkish government intermediaries, but were suspended following the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over a corruption inquiry.
The Israeli government under Binyamin Netanyahu elected in February 2009 indicated that it was determined to take a tougher line over the Golan, and in June 2009, the Syrian leader said there was no partner for talks on the Israeli side.
Syrian civil war
The US administration of President Barack Obama - who took up office in January 2009 - declared the restarting of talks between Israel and Syria to be one of its main foreign policy goals, but the advent of civil war in Syria in 2011 put paid to any progress.
Syrian fighting reached the Golan ceasefire lines in 2013, when Israel returned fire after rebel shells landed in Golan. Israeli and Syrian Army troops exchanged fire across their lines in May.

WHAT IS THE ARAB SPRING?

INTRODUCTION
The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy uprisings that enveloped several largely Muslim countries, including Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. The events in these nations generally began in the spring of 2011, which led to the name. However, the political and social impact of these popular uprisings remains significant today, years after many of them ended.

WHAT IS THE ARAB SPRING?
The Arab Spring was a loosely related group of protests that ultimately resulted in regime changes in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Not all of the movements, however, could be deemed successful—at least if the end goal was increased democracy and cultural freedom.

In fact, for many countries enveloped by the revolts of the Arab Spring, the period since has been hallmarked by increased instability and oppression.

Given the significant impact of the Arab Spring throughout northern Africa and the Middle East, it’s easy to forget the series of large-scale political and social movements arguably began with a single act of defiance.

Middle East

Middle East, the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran and, by some definitions, sometimes beyond. The central part of this general area was formerly called the Near East, a name given to it by some of the first modern Western geographers and historians, who tended to divide what they called the Orient into three regions. Near East applied to the region nearest Europe, extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf; Middle East, from the Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia; and Far East, those regions facing the Pacific Ocean.

The change in usage began to evolve prior to World War II and tended to be confirmed during that war, when the term Middle East was given to the British military command in Egypt. By the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates]). Subsequent events have tended, in loose usage, to enlarge the number of lands included in the definition. The three North African countries of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are closely connected in sentiment and foreign policy with the Arab states. In addition, geographic factors often require statesmen and others to take account of Afghanistan and Pakistan in connection with the affairs of the Middle East.

Occasionally, Greece is included in the compass of the Middle East because the Middle Eastern (then Near Eastern) question in its modern form first became apparent when the Greeks rose in rebellion to assert their independence of the Ottoman Empire in 1821 (see Eastern Question). Turkey and Greece, together with the predominantly Arabic-speaking lands around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, were also formerly known as the Levant.

Use of the term Middle East nonetheless remains unsettled, and some agencies (notably the United States State Department and certain bodies of the United Nations) still employ the term Near East.

Syria war: Israeli fighter jet crashes under S yria fire, military says

The Israeli F-16 jet crashed near a village in northern Israel.
An Israeli fighter jet has crashed amid Syrian anti-aircraft fire after an offensive against Iranian targets in Syria, the Israeli military says.
The two pilots ejected and parachuted to safety after the crash in northern Israel. They were taken to hospital.
Israel said its aircraft, an F-16 jet, was carrying out strikes in response to the launch of an Iranian drone into Israel. The drone was intercepted.
Syria opened fire after an Israeli act of "aggression", state media said.
Israel 'strikes Damascus military complex'
In a statement, the Israeli military said "a combat helicopter successfully intercepted an Iranian UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] that was launched from Syria and infiltrated Israel".
It said the drone was identified quickly and was "under surveillance until the interception".

The military said that in response the IDF "targeted Iranian targets in Syria", adding that the mission was successfully completed.

Red alert sirens sounded in areas of northern Israel and the Golan Heights due to Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
Residents reported hearing a number of explosions and heavy aerial activity in the area near Israel's borders with Jordan and Syria.
Syrian state media quoted a military source as saying that the country's air defences opened fire in response to an Israeli act of "aggression" against a military base on Saturday, hitting "more than one plane".
What is the Iranian presence in Syria?
Iran - together with Russia - is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose troops have been fighting rebel groups since 2011.
Last November, a Western intelligence source told the BBC that Tehran was establishing a permanent military base inside Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that "Israel will not let that happen".
Iran has faced accusations that it is seeking to establish not just an arc of influence but a logistical land supply line from Iran through to the Shia Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
Israeli strikes in Syria are not unusual, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Tom Bateman says. But he adds that the downing of an Israeli fighter jet marks one of the most serious escalations yet.

Syria war: Assad's government accuses US of massacre

Syria has accused the US of carrying out a "brutal massacre" with a bombing attack in Deir al-Zour province.
The overnight air strikes killed an estimated 100 pro-government fighters near the Euphrates river, according to the US.
The Syrian foreign ministry said it had written to the United Nations, demanding international condemnation.
The US claimed a right to self-defence, saying it was responding to an attack on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters.
It happened in the Middle Euphrates Valley, which serves as an informal demarcation line in eastern Syria. The government controls the western side and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) the east.
The two sides have clashed over the past year while trying to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in the country.
Syria described the latest strikes as "a war crime and a crime against humanity", and said the US was directly supporting terrorism.
Elsewhere in Syria on Thursday, government warplanes bombed towns in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital, Damascus, for a fourth day.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said at least 36 civilians were killed, bringing the death toll to 185 since Monday.
The Syrian government has also been accused of using chemical weapons on a rebel-held town in Idlib province earlier this week.

Were there Russian casualties?
A Pentagon official said Russian mercenaries were among the dead after the strike, US media report. If confirmed, this would be the first time US forces have killed Russians in Syria.
However, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had no service personnel in the area. It said it was aware of 25 Syrian militia, who had been wounded in the strikes, but no casualties.
Russia accused the US of being motivated by economic concerns, as the strikes took place near an oil field.
Pentagon officials also said they believed Russia was trying to seize control of local oil operations.

Where did the US strikes happen and why?
The Syrian pro-government forces that were hit had allegedly tried to take ground east of the River Euphrates, captured from IS by the SDF.
The US-led coalition against IS accused pro-government forces of initiating "an unprovoked attack against well-established SDF headquarters" late on Wednesday.
"Coalition service members in an advise, assist, and accompany capacity were co-located with SDF partners during the attack 8km east of the agreed-upon Euphrates river de-confliction line," a statement said.

"In defence of coalition and partner forces, the coalition conducted strikes against attacking forces to repel the act of aggression," it added, asserting its "non-negotiable right to act in self-defence".
Unnamed US military officials subsequently told reporters that about 500 pro-government fighters, backed by artillery, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars, were involved in the assault.
One SDF fighter was reportedly wounded in the incident. There were no American casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed there had been an attack on SDF positions near the town of Khusham, 10km (6 miles) south-east of Deir al-Zour city, and put the death toll at about 20.
What should happen to IS fighters in Syria and Iraq?
The rapid rise and fall of 'Islamic State'
The war against ‘Islamic State’ in maps and charts

Why did the pro-government forces attack?
"We suspect Syrian pro-regime forces were attempting to seize terrain SDF had liberated from [IS] in September 2017," one US official told Reuters news agency.
The forces were "likely seeking to seize oilfields in Khusham that had been a major source of revenue for [IS] from 2014 to 2017", the official added.

Before the war, the Omar oil field was producing 30,000 barrels of oil per day, while the Conoco gas field was producing 13m cubic metres of gas per day.
The US-led coalition had observed a slow build-up of pro-government forces in the area over the past week and had alerted Russia, which backs the Syrian government, to the presence of SDF forces in the area, according to the official.

What does Syrian media say?
State media reported that the US-led coalition had bombed "popular forces" fighting IS and SDF forces east of the River Euphrates, denouncing what they called a "new aggression".
An Al-Ikhbariyah TV correspondent said the bombing left "dozens of dead and wounded" and identified the pro-government fighters as "local people".
The Syrian Observatory said they were local tribesmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and Afghan Shia militiamen.

False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East

by Steven A. Cook
Reviewed by John Waterbury

“The Middle East looks the way it does because the confluence of uprisings (not revolutions), institutions or the lack of them, and the search for identity and authenticity have conspired to thwart” the region’s dreams of democracy. So argues Cook, a seasoned analyst of the Middle East, in this highly readable, sometimes chatty, and ultimately very pessimistic book. All four of the countries he examines—Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Turkey—have fallen victim to unresolved identity crises and “sticky institutions” that refuse to reform. Even in Tunisia, often held up as the sole success story of the mostly failed Arab revolts of 2010–11, progress has been precarious. The factors that fueled those movements and the large protests that erupted in Istanbul in 2013 will persist for at least a generation. The United States, Cook argues, had little to do with the uprisings and could not have done much to affect their outcomes; it is hubris to think otherwise. But Cook suggests, somewhat forlornly, that Washington can still play the long game, using foreign aid to foster social change that may alter political realities far down the road.

Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherho.od Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days

Trager’s book is based on extensive interviews with senior and midlevel leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which in 2012 captured the country’s presidency and a parliamentary plurality in Egypt’s first free elections in decades. Trager chronicles the 891 days that followed at a level of detail that only Egyptoholics like me might appreciate. Trager asks a very big question and delivers an unequivocal answer: Are the Brotherhood and its offshoots the face of moderate Islam, capable of sharing power in a democratic, pluralistic system, or is the group a totalitarian entity that tolerates no internal debate about its mission of bringing Islamic government to Egypt and the world? Trager believes the totalitarian face is real, and the moderation mainly a mask. For that reason, he argues, the efforts of the Obama administration to engage with the presidency of Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader, were misguided and ultimately unproductive, although Trager notes that there were no good alternatives. But if Trager is right, and if political Islam is here to stay, the Egyptian story has bleak implications for the future of the Muslim world..

British Foreign Policy and the Arab Spring

The British government’s varied responses to the popular uprisings of the “Arab Spring” have been criticised for being inconsistent and/or selective. British actions ranged from providing substantial military support for the rebels in Libya to offering notably muted reactions to government suppression of protests in Bahrain. On assuming office, the new foreign secretary, William Hague, suggested that Britain would have a networked approach to foreign policy with a greater awareness of the bilateral interests that Britain had with other countries around the world. This analysis offers a provisional examination of the security, economic, and societal networks that Britain holds with states in the Arab world and, in doing so, tests whether these have any correlation with the British government’s policy towards protests in the region.

British Foreign Policy and the Arab Spring

Philip Leech & Jamie Gaskarth

Pages 139-160 | Published online: 11 Mar 2015

https://doi.org/10.108009592296.2015.999631