Foreign Digest Updates: Germany and Syria

Germany

The ruling center-right Christian Democrats, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, her conservative Bavarian allies and the center-left socialists reached agreement late last week on a cabinet in order to form a government for Germany.  The Christian Democrats, followed by the socialists, had won the most seats in the September parliamentary elections, but without obtaining a majority.  As no party could form a coalition to govern on their own, a grand center-left-right coalition was necessary, which kept the far-right and far-left from power.  Once the proposed government is presented to the President, he will give a mandate to Merkel to be Chancellor for fourth term.  She has governed Germany since 2005.  The center-right will retain the Defense Ministry in its portfolio, but the center-left will hold that of the Foreign Ministry.

As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Germany is an ally of the United States.  Germany also provides non-combat support to the US-led War on Terrorism.  Germany is the wealthiest member of the European Union. 

Syria

            There have been several developments over the last few days in the Syrian civil war.  The Bashar Assad regime continues to use chemical weapons against the opposition, including in heavily-populated civilian areas.  Specifically, the Syrian government uses chlorine, which, despite its history as a chemical weapon, was not prohibited in the agreement brokered by the Russian Federation to remove Syria’s chemical weapons.  Russia backs Syria, which retained and used some of its other stock of chemical weapons of mass destruction. 

            After the Syrians and their allies attacked a base of American-backed non-Islamist rebels, the United States responded with an attack on Syrian positions.  A similar incident occurred last year at an American position, which led to a retaliatory strike by the US. 

            After a drone was launched by Iran, which is Syria’s main ally, toward Israel from Iranian positions in Syria, Israel launched attacks yesterday on multiple Iranian and Syrian positions.  Israel has responded with attacks on Syrian positions after rockets fired in the Syrian civil war have strayed into Israeli territory and the Israelis have hit Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization backed by Iran and Syria that is defending the Syrian regime, or Syrian chemical weapons facilities, but the Israeli attacks on Iranian positions signifies that the Jewish State regards the Islamic Republic’s presence and activities in Syria as a threat.  

           The Syrian civil war began as a popular uprising in 2011 against the tyrannical Baathist regime of Assad.  Both non-Islamists and Islamists participate in the rebellion, while the Syrian government also has both types on its side.  The war has claimed over half a million lives and displaced 13 million people, creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.  Iran and Russia back Syria militarily, while the US leads a coalition of mostly Arab and European countries against the Islamic States and al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria.  The American-led coalition backs non-Islamist Syrian Arabs and Kurds.  Turkey opposes Syria, but focuses mostly on fighting Marxist terrorist Kurds.  Syria is a state sponsor of terrorism and serves as a conduit for Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.