Rysslands agerande i Syrienkonflikten : En studie utifrån det neorealistiska perspektivet

After about 40 years of dictatorship of the Assad family the people of Syria were fed up and at the time of the Arab Spring 2011 a revolution in Syria started, which later on turned into a civil war which has been going on for seven years. This has led to the civilian population suffering from both the regime and the oppositional side. The UN has repeatedly submitted resolutions but none have gone through when Russia and China have used their veto rights. They point out that other countries should not get involved with Syria's internal affairs without the consent of Syria. The question that arises is why Russia prevents the UN from actin in Syria despite the humanitarian disaster that occurs in the country. By analyzing Syria based on the realism theory I will be able to map out the underlying reasons for why the UN are being prevented from acting. The method I will use is intentional analysis to reveal the hidden intentions and motives Russia has in Syria. The results of this study are that the action by the Russian side clearly shows that Russia has strategic motives in Syria to preserve its interests and to strengthen its structural position in the international politics. Russia's economic and geopolitical interests in Syria mean that they act according to their interests, thus preventing the UN from acting, as a possible regime change would represent an economical and geopolitical backlash for Russia. This means that realism explains the case best because it stresses that states act according to their own interests and that international organizations are meaningless