OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY

(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)

• Syrian Civil War
• Russia’s military aid and support to Syria
• Refugee influx into Europe
• US drops its regime change agenda – political solution
• Ground situation in Syria – 1) Islamic State 2) Jabhat al-Nusra 3) American trained Syrian Militia
– Syrian Arab Coalition + Syrian Kurdish fighters

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 1
 OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY
(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 2
 OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY
(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)

• Syrian Civil War

• Failure of US in training Syrian rebels to fight the ISIS
• GCC and Turkey financially supporting al-Nusra and demand a sympathetic treatment – ally in
the fight against Syrian govt
• Russian stance – regional coalition with Syria on board to fight ISIS
• Why Russia backs Syria? Two angles
• Syrian Civil War
• Russia’s relationship with Syria – strategic interest
• Chechen and Russian jihadis in IS and al-Nusra
• Presence of 2 million Christians in Syria – Existential threat from ISIS
• Military to Military talks between US and Russia from September to avoid accidental conflicts
between them
• Syrian Civil War
• Major change in US policy on Syria – Bashad Al-Assad can stay “for a while”
• 250,000 Syrians died since 2011 – half of the nation’s population are refugees
• Russia’s latest stand – 1) Bashar al-Assad 2) Focus on defeating ISIS
• European Refugee Crisis
• Very concept of European Unity threatened
• Schengen visa rules suspended – border controls
• Fences for the first time since the fall of Berlin Wall – 1989
• Sheer scale of refugee inflow stuns Europe
• Refugee inflow started with Libya civil war - 2012
• European Refugee Crisis

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 3
 OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY
(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)
• 2011 – Syria civil war – proactive refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan (key US allies) – motive –
Right to Protect (R2P) civilians norm used for regime change
• 4 years of Civil War leaves Syria devastated – 4 million refugees – most of them head towards
Turkey
• Overall refugees according to UN this year alone in West Asia and North Africa – 14 million
• Another 15 million displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa
• European Refugee Crisis
• Preferred route
• Eastern Europe – Geographic proximity to Turkey
• Italy and Greece – initial victims
• Hungary seals borders with Serbia and Croatia – concertina wire fencing
• Hungary is a gateway to Austria and Germany
• Germany – Tolerance to refugees + Strong economy
• Sweden & Norway – other countries with tolerant tradition

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 4
 OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY
(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 5
 OFFICERS IAS ACADEMY
(India’s only Academy run by an IAS Officer)

• European Refugee Crisis

• German stance slightly hardening despite Angela Merkel – new parliamentary laws - for
deporting asylum seekers, reduce incentives
• Manfred Schmidt – President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees resigns – blame
for refugee influx into Balkans
• Token gestures from France / England / USA
• Hungary’s brutal response – Right wing government – Serbia and Croatia in a bind
• European Refugee Crisis
• Serbia – 7 million population – 120,000 refugees – condemns Hungary
• David Miliband – Chief of International Rescue Mission – Hungary’s behavior – “Dark side of
the European character”
• Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein – UNHCR – “xenophobic and anti-Muslim”
• Germans say – “shared responsibility” of Europe – “Even distribution”
• European Refugee Crisis
• VISEGRAD group – Czech Republic / Slovakia / Hungary / Poland – reject German-supported
EU proposal unanimously
• EU President – Jean Claude Junker – plan to share 120,000 refugees – 1) size of population 2)
GDP size 3) other factors
• “Europe is a continent where almost everybody has been a refugee”
• Catholic Church and Xenophonic Right Wing groups in VISEGRAD countries

Plot No: 1940, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-40.

Ph: 044-65666222, 9677120226, 9677174226
Web: www.officersiasacademy.com Page 6