Student paper by Nik Svendsen

Excerpt:

“Positive peace is essential for a society wrecked by conflicts to flourish. There are eight pillars to achieve positive peace: well-functioning government, sound business environment, low levels of corruption, acceptance of the right of others, high levels of human capital, good relations with neighbors, free flow of information, and equitable distribution of resources. As of now, Syria fails to truly meet any of these pillars. Syria lacks a functioning government, with many of the people depending on humanitarian aid groups to provide them with essential government services. Sound business environments, low levels of corruption, high levels of human capital, and equitable distribution of resources are all out of reach, especially due to Syria’s current war-torn state and mass poverty. As 80% of the Syrian population lives below the poverty line and 9 million people are food-insecure, these situations must be addressed to progress towards positive peace. These economic problems are further exacerbated by the lack of government, detainees, and violence from the war. Syria also is lacking in good relations with its neighbors. With Iran supporting the Syrian government, many members of the Arab League have condemned Assad, and Turkey has backed opposition groups.

Even if negative peace is achieved in Syria, the country is still far from positive peace. The economic, governmental, and societal situation in Syria means that work must still be done in order for Syrian society to flourish.”

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