I wonder whether Syria still exists as an independent nation

[question everything]

I don't know what the population was before 2011 - the beginning of the "Arab Spring" which came there too. But I think that since then Syria lost a large part of its population through killing and refugees fleeing the country.

I think that for a nation to exist it needs a minimum level of a workforce to produce whatever it is producing, to keep utilities working, roads functioning, civil servants, etc.

Does this minimum level still exist in Syria? Does it matter?

I really don't know, I just wonder.

Being a city dweller all my life, members of the families and friends work in corporations, or owning small businesses or professionals, I have never understood how so many people survive in long wars, not just WWII but also in the former Yugoslavia. And in Iraq and Afghanistan. I suppose if the basis is agrarian, then people just go back to their land and live by what they can produce from their land.

[Lithos]

1. I think it's perceived as a "failed" state

I came across this several years ago while tracking Somalia and Sudan...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index

On Edit: I think this group did a remarkable job coming up with a ranking system.

[question everything]

2. Thanks. This is really sad

I know that the UN has, at least on paper, many committees to address some of the problems but these are so ineffective and are influenced by politics.

Yes, I know, the developed nations cannot assist the rest of the world, and this list is scary. But instead of debating the future of the refugees that, no doubt, destabilize many institutions in the host countries, it would have been nice has several nations would have formed regional organizations to stabilize these failed states. The problem, again, that so many are ruled by corrupt government that take from the people to enrich and support the rulers.

As we see in Hungary and in Poland, it does not take much to turn even so-called Western Democracy into places of fear and suppression of any freedom.

[Lithos]

3. I am thinking the rise involves a lot of outside "focus" support

Or more succinctly, Specifically, I think Russia is behind this with both funding and organizational support. But, more generally, the rise of Social Media has allowed for a huge degree of organization and message control which 10 years ago would have been unheard of. Both Hungary and Poland saw the influx of other neo-Fascists from outside Poland. Sort of the same analogy with Charlottesville where most of the protestors were out of state.

[SunSeeker]

4. Syria will exist for as long as Russia and Iran let it. nt

[DetlefK]

5. +1

Syria was Iran's stooge in the power-struggle against Saudi-Arabia.

And the only possible reason Russia cares for Syria is because Syria has the only ports in the Mediterranean Sea where russian warships may dock.