Syria's Reconstruction Scramble

In Syria’s Reconstruction Scramble – Muriel Asseburg & Khaled Yacoub Oweis, focus on whether or not Europe should put aside its current reservations and become involved in the reconstruction effort. Asseburg and Oweis show that the realities of the post-uprising phase are in sharp contradiction with any meaningful attempt at reconstruction. Any involvement at this stage would amount to reducing reconstruction to the mere rebuilding of physical infrastructure even as actual fighting continues and without any prospects to a political settlement. The authors further conclude that Europe should instead “… play the long game and develop leverage to make future contributions serve state and peace-building purposes.