The unravelling of Syria: a legacy of imperialist war and meddling

In yet another sudden and sharp event, highly characteristic of the period of history we are living through, a surprise offensive by Syrian Islamist militants is fast unravelling Syria. Israel’s western-backed wars against Gaza and Lebanon have upended the fragile equilibrium in the Middle East and pulled a thread that has begun unwinding the fabric of the region.

After four years of relative stasis, the Syrian civil war was reignited this week by a sudden rebel offensive on Aleppo. In order to answer the questions this raises from a Marxist perspective, we are republishing this article from 2013 which explains the nature of the Assad regime, and the necessary attitude of Communists towards it.

“Tekelci kapitalizmin çağımızdaki yaşamı bir krizler zinciridir. Her kriz bir felakettir. Bu kısmi felaketlerden gümrük duvarları, enflasyon, devlet harcamalarının ve borçların artırılması yoluyla kurtulma ihtiyacı, ek, daha derin ve daha yaygın krizlere zemin hazırlamaktadır. Pazarlar, hammaddeler ve sömürgeler için verilen mücadele askeri felaketleri kaçınılmaz kılıyor. Sonuç olarak, devrimci felaketleri hazırlarlar.”

Les 30 novembre et 1^er décembre derniers, plus de 160 militants ont participé au Congrès fondateur du Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire (PCR), qui s’est tenu à Ivry-sur-Seine. Les camarades venaient de région parisienne, Toulouse, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Grenoble, Reims, Gap, Lyon, Rennes, Morlaix, Brest, Nantes, Lille, Bourges, Dax, Cherbourg et du Val d’Ajol.