Insight into Syria: Part 2/3: Economy, Weaponization and Civil War
Following the detailed description of the Syrian security forces, this second part is a continuation of the interview of a Syrian citizen now living in the European Union. The first part showed how developed are the Syrian intelligence services (Mukhabarat), both inside the army and inside the police. They are divided into many branches that watch each other in addition to keeping a constant eye over the civilian population.
Being an opponent to the regime thus seems to be a tricky situation in which people are forced to remain silent, in turns losing their chances to simply express their opinion.
This second part gives a light insight on how the economic lever is used by the government to increase presure on people and how the highly oppressive and conflicting situation affects people's judgment and could lead to a weaponization of the conflict and eventually to a civil war.
Syrian currency, which is manufactured in Germany, Belgium and Austria, is not exported to Syria anymore due to European Union embargo. New oil contracts are forbidden. Tourism is very probably completely stopped, and both state-controlled and private companies are cutting off jobs. The country seems to be running out of cash. What can be the consequences on both the population and the regime of this progressive economic breakdown?
The...