The UN is starving Syria and the US is calling them out - analysis

• Date: 30 March 2021
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Published date: 30 March 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The real story here is that several authoritarian regimes that back the Syrian regime government don't want aid flowing into areas where the US has influence in eastern Syria, and also don't want aid going through Turkey to Turkish-occupied northern Syria.

In essence, the UN has been used as a tool to prop up the Syrian regime. This is in line with the general way the UN is exploited and also is in line with the problematic nature of international law which tends to view "states" as sacrosanct, not wanting to deal with "sub-state entities" or autonomous regions. This means that when states break down or have a civil war, areas that may have long ago broken away from a central government have difficult accessing international markets. Whether it is eastern Syria or Somaliland, this may be the case.

However, in other cases, the UN is flexible and helps prop up substate entities such as its large infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank. This may depend on history or the whims of the powerful countries on the security council.

The issue in Syria, as in other conflicts historically, is that the US and others are divided. Russia supports the Syrian regime. The US has opposed the regime and, through fighting ISIS, the US became influential in eastern Syria where it backs the Syrian Democratic Forces.

However, the US has its own janus-faced problem with those it supports. Its former Syrian envoy, James Jeffrey, told the SDF in 2018 that they would have to seek a solution within Syria and that the US doesn't work with substate groups. The US relationships in eastern Syria were temporary and transactional, in the view of Jeffrey. The Biden administration is still searching for a Syria policy.

What has changed is that crossing to Syria through Bab al-Salam on the Syria-Turkey border and Yarubiyah between Syria and Iraq were closed by the UN. In effect, this has resulted in empowerment of the Assad regime and weakened opposition controlled...