Achievements and Challenges of the Nonviolent Movement in Syria
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Résumé
This paper uses insights from the literature on nonviolent movements against dictatorships to analyse the
main achievements and challenges of the nonviolent movement in Syria since the beginning of mass protests in 2011. It
begins with reviewing the nonviolent strategies used by the movement to protest against the regime and evaluating their
impact. It then assesses the challenges encountered by the movement, including its internal fragmentation, its
insufficient strategic planning, the growing use of violent opposition tactics, the army’s continuing allegiance to the
regime, and outside interference. Finally, it concludes that the Syrian nonviolent movement overcame some of these,
demonstrating its resilience and the possibility for it to play a role in reducing polarization among society and paving
the way for a more inclusive transition.
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Comment citer
Belén Garrido, M., & Mouly, C. (2021). Achievements and Challenges of the Nonviolent Movement in Syria. Revista Sul-Americana De Ciência Política, 1(2), 38-50. Consulté à l’adresse https://revistas.ufpel.edu.br/index.php/Sul/article/view/185
Rubrique
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Références
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EL MUNDO. Assad ha anunciado que autoriza el multipartidismo en Siria. El Mundo, 4/08/2011.
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______. Uncharted waters: thinking through Syria’s dynamics. Middle East Briefing, n. 31,
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China. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston,
MA., 31/07/2008.
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SHUVRA, Mahmud. Symbols of the Syrian opposition. BBC, 16/02/2012.
SPIEGEL. Waffen für Assad Regime: Russland verkauft Kampfjets an Syrien. Spiegel, 23/02/2012.
UNITED NATIONS. Opening remarks by Kofi Annan, joint special envoy for Syria, at press
conference – Geneva [Online]. UN News Centre. Available at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/Syria/press.asp?sID=41. Accessed on: 18/09/2012.
WILLIAMS, Lauren. Syria’s prankster army make sense for nonviolence. Daily Star (Lebanon),
31/10/2012.
YASSIN AL-HAJ, Salih. The Syrian shabiba and their state. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung - Middle East
Office, 04/2012.
YAZBEK, Samar. Schrei nach Freiheit: Bericht aus dem Inneren der syrischen Revolution.
Munich: Nagel & Kimche, 2012.
ZUNES, Stephen. Intervention will escalate violence. National Catholic Reporter, 27/04/2012 -
10/05/2012.
______. Unarmed resistance still Syria’s best hope. National Catholic Reporter, 26/01/2012.
______. Nonviolent actions and human rights. Political Science and Politics, v. 33, n. 2, 06/2000, p.
181-187.
______. The role of non-violent action in the downfall of apartheid. The Journal of Modern African
Studies, v. 37, n. 1, 03/1999, p. 137-169.
World Peace, v. 29, n. 1, 03/2012, p. 7-19.
AFP. At least 1100 civilians killed in Syria. Arab Times, 24/05/2011.
AL-HAJ SALIH, Yassin. The Syrian shabiha and their state. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung/Middle East
Office, Apr 2012.
AL JAZEERA. Syria to lift emergency law. Al Jazeera, 27/03/2011.
AL JAZEERA. Syria defections [Online]. Al Jazeera. Available at:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/syriadefections/2012730840348158.html. Accessed
on: 03/10/2012.
ALVAREZ-OSSORIO, Ignacio. The Syrian uprising: Syria’s struggling civil society. Middle East
Quarterly, Spring 2012, p. 23-32.
AL-ZUBAIDI, Layla. Syria’s creative resistance. Jadaliyya, 8/06/2012.
ARANGO, Tim; DURAID, Adnan. For Iraqis, aid to rebels in Syria repays a debt. New York Times,
12/02/2012.
AZAR, Edward. The management of protracted social conflict. Aldershot: Darmouth Publishing
Company, 1990.
BLOCH, Nadine. 5 ways the Syrians resist creatively” [Online]. Waging nonviolence. Available at:
http://wagingnonviolence.org/2012/07/5-ways-the-syrians-resistcreatively/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WagingNonvi
olence+%28Waging+Nonviolence%29. Accessed on: 7/07/2012.
DIAMOND, Larry. How to get rid of Assad by engaging him”. The Republic, 9/02/2012.
EFE. Anuncian la formación de un consejo nacional sirio que agrupa a toda la oposición. El Mundo,
2/10/2011.
EL MUNDO. Assad ha anunciado que autoriza el multipartidismo en Siria. El Mundo, 4/08/2011.
GARCÍA-DURÁN, Mauricio. Movimiento por la paz en Colombia, 1978-2003. Bogota: CINEP,
2006.
HADDAD, Bassam. Syria’s stalemate: the limits of regime resilience”. Middle East Policy, v. 19, n.
1, 2012, p. 85-95.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Report of the independent
international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab republic. A/HRC/19/69, 22/02/2012.
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP. Syria’s mutating conflict. Middle East Report, n. 128,
1/08/2012.
______. Uncharted waters: thinking through Syria’s dynamics. Middle East Briefing, n. 31,
24/11/2011.
KAHF, Mohja. Non violence has strong odds in Syria” [Online]. Pressenza. Available at:
http://www.pressenza.com/2011/12/non-violence-has-strong-odds-in-syria/. Accessed on:
02/12/2011.
______. Water bottles & roses” [Online]. Pressenza. Available at:
http://www.pressenza.com/2011/11/water-bottles-x-roses/. Accessed on: 22/11/2011.
LANDLER, Mark. Obama threatens force against Syria. The New York Times, 20/08/2012.
LOCAL COORDINATING COMMITTEES (LCC). Statement to the Syrian people, 29/08/2011.
LOFLAND, John. Polite protesters: the American peace movement of the 1980s. Syracuse:
Syracuse University Press, 1993.
MACHIAVELLI, Niccolo. The chief works and others (Vol. 1). Durham, NC: Duke University
Press, 1989.
MOTTALEB EL HUSSEINI, Abdel. Syriens neue Verfassung. Spiegel, 23/02/2012.
NAGLER, Michael. Is that the only choice? New Clear Vision, 9/09/2011.
______. The search for a nonviolent future. Makawao: Inner Ocean Publishing, 2004.
NEPSTAD, Sharon Erickson. Nonviolent resistance in the Arab spring: the critical role of the
military-opposition alliances. Swiss Political Science Review. v. 17, n. 4, 2011, p. 485-491.
______. What makes nonviolence work? Comparing democracy movements in East Germany and
China. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston,
MA., 31/07/2008.
NOW LEBANON. Assad issues decree to raise wages. Now Lebanon. 31/03/2011.
PUTZ, Ulrike.Syriens Nachbarn fürchten Assads stürz. Spiegel, 10/02/2012.
RADIO FREE ASIA. Tibetan self-immolations [Online]. Radio Free Asia. Available at:
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/TibetanImmolations/Home.html. Accessed on: 8/09/2012.
REUTERS. Syria rights groups: 1,100 civilians killed since start of uprising. Haaretz, 24/05/2011.
SALLOUM, Raniah. Eizeit zwischen Moskau und Ankara. Spiegel, 11/10/2012.
SARIHAN, Ali. Is the Arab spring in the third wave of democratization? The case of Syria and
Egypt. Turkish Journal of Politics, v. 3, n. 1, 2012, p. 67-85.
SHARP, Gene. From dictatorship to democracy: a conceptual framework for liberation. Fourth US
edition. Boston: Albert Einstein Institute, 05/2010.
SHUVRA, Mahmud. Symbols of the Syrian opposition. BBC, 16/02/2012.
SPIEGEL. Waffen für Assad Regime: Russland verkauft Kampfjets an Syrien. Spiegel, 23/02/2012.
UNITED NATIONS. Opening remarks by Kofi Annan, joint special envoy for Syria, at press
conference – Geneva [Online]. UN News Centre. Available at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/Syria/press.asp?sID=41. Accessed on: 18/09/2012.
WILLIAMS, Lauren. Syria’s prankster army make sense for nonviolence. Daily Star (Lebanon),
31/10/2012.
YASSIN AL-HAJ, Salih. The Syrian shabiba and their state. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung - Middle East
Office, 04/2012.
YAZBEK, Samar. Schrei nach Freiheit: Bericht aus dem Inneren der syrischen Revolution.
Munich: Nagel & Kimche, 2012.
ZUNES, Stephen. Intervention will escalate violence. National Catholic Reporter, 27/04/2012 -
10/05/2012.
______. Unarmed resistance still Syria’s best hope. National Catholic Reporter, 26/01/2012.
______. Nonviolent actions and human rights. Political Science and Politics, v. 33, n. 2, 06/2000, p.
181-187.
______. The role of non-violent action in the downfall of apartheid. The Journal of Modern African
Studies, v. 37, n. 1, 03/1999, p. 137-169.