Assessing the Astana Peace Process for Syria: Actors, Approaches, and Differences

2020-06-01
Cengiz, Sinem
Since 2011, numerous peace initiatives have been initiated out by several actors to end the Syrian civil war in a peaceful way. This article presents the "Astana Peace Process" brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran in early 2017 as a case study of a mediation and examines its predecessors to understand the reasons for the failures of those attempts and develops an assessment of the Astana peace process itself. To gain a better understanding of the Astana peace process, this article incorporates the efforts of main actors, their approaches, and the context of the war. In doing so, the article begins by describing the background of the civil war and then uses traditional concepts in mediation theory to elucidate the limitations of the unsuccessful attempts. Next, it investigates how the Astana peace process was different and the driving factors that encouraged the states to engage in this process and argues that Astana peace process's overall effectiveness is likely to remain limited due to the conflicting interests of the mediators.
CONTEMPORARY REVIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Suggestions

Local and National Level Humanitarian Diplomacy in Turkey in the Context of Syrian Civil War
Kandemir, Ali Berker; Boztemur, Recep; Department of Middle East Studies (2021-10-08)
This thesis analyzes humanitarian diplomacy efforts in Turkey in the context of the Syrian Civil War. The thesis argues that the failed relationship between the Turkish State and the International Non-Governmental Organizations at the local level causes inefficient humanitarian operations towards Syrians affected by the civil war. In addition to that, the thesis considers that the undulant Turkey – West relations have consequences on humanitarian efforts in the country. On the one hand, the thesis conside...
CAPTURING LEBANON WHILE “SAVING” ASSAD: HEZBOLLAH AND THE CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA, 2010-2020
Elhan, Nail; Tür Küçükkaya, Özlem; Department of International Relations (2022-1)
This thesis aims to analyze Hezbollah’s motivations in intervening in Syria, how Hezbollah as a Lebanese actor justified its intervention in the civil war in Syria, and its extended role in the war and presence in Syria in the past decade. By looking at the whole process from the beginning of the Syrian uprisings until 2020, it looks at stages of Hezbollah’s direct involvement in Syria. By borrowing the concept of win-sets from Robert Putnam’s two-level game theory, it aims to answer how Hezbollah justified...
A neorealist analysis of Iran-Russia relations : Tajik and Syrian civil wars
Yanık, Esra; Göçer Akder, Derya; Department of Middle East Studies (2019)
Civil wars not only influence the countries they break out but they also lead to significant policy changes on a regional and global scale as observed in Syria. On the other hand, the civil war in Tajikistan between the years 1992-1997 is the first and only civil war in Central Asia following the Soviet demise. Both civil wars have varying degrees of impact on Iran by shaping Tehran’s foreign policy and providing a basis for cooperation between Iran and Russia. In this thesis, Iranian politics towards Tajik...
Intersecting interventions of global and regional powers in the Syrian civil war: motives, methods, and timing
Bilgin, İnci; Göçer Akder, Derya; Department of International Relations (2018)
Following the spread of the Arab Uprisings to Syria, a civil war broke out between Syrian opponents and government; consequently, thousands of people have died, injured, and been displaced. The Syrian Civil War paved the way for the emergence of various local armed groups which have claims over the Syrian territory. In the meantime, the world has witnessed multiple-interventions of global and regional actors in the conflict in Syria through diplomatic, economic and military means. This thesis focuses on the...
Predicting the Resilience of the Health Care System to New Arrivals: The Case of the Public Health System of Turkey
Özen, İlhan Can (2021-4-01)
Purpose/Objectives: Since the start of the Syrian war, a significant population has moved out of the Syrian Republic into its neighborhood environs. Turkey has had a significant effect on its health system and society, as a significant new number has entered the Turkish society, increasingly using the Turkish healthcare system. Our aim is not only to numerically identify the size of the effect to the Turkish system, but to identify the domestic resources that allow the Turkish healthcare system and socie...
Citation Formats
S. Cengiz, “Assessing the Astana Peace Process for Syria: Actors, Approaches, and Differences,” CONTEMPORARY REVIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST, pp. 200–214, 2020, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/64069.