Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is well on the road to a military victory over his numerous enemies. A coalition of Syrian government, Iranian, Lebanese, and Russian forces now control upwards of 80 percent of the country, signaling an approaching end to the six-year war.
Assad’s hard-won military victory over a motley coalition of ex-Baathists, Islamist forces and IS, however, will not bring much-needed peace to Syria. The continuing contest for control of Syria’s destiny is about to enter another phase—the battle over the country’s reconstruction.
The war has wreaked havoc throughout the country, killing close to a half million people and forcibly displacing more than half of the country’s prewar population of 21 million. Two of every three Syrians live in extreme poverty, in a war economy that in 2016 generated only a third of its prewar (2010) value. The World Bank and others have estimated that Syria’s reconstruction will require upwards of $200 billion.
No comments:
Post a Comment