Editor's note.

• Author: Ataman, Muhittin

The Syrian Crisis, the bloodiest front of the Arab uprisings and one of the main determinants of policies of regional and global powers, has been dominating international politics for the last five years. Having caused the death of more than 300 thousand civilians and forced relocation of more than 7 million Syrians, it is one of the direst international problems that the global powers must deal with. It began as a local issue, but after a very short period of time it morphed into a proxy war between regional and global powers. "Redlines" drawn by regional and global actors were crossed, yet there has been no tangible reaction to these violations. Among others, chemical weapons were used, crimes against humanity were committed, fundamental human rights were repeatedly violated. Over time, the crisis has revealed limitations and maladies of the actors involved.

It has revealed the futility and ineffectiveness of the UN system and as well as the deep crisis that the global system is in. Due to the lack of consensus between the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the UN could not take any decisions to solve the crisis. The Assad regime has continued to kill thousands of innocent peoples without being held responsible. Similarly, the crisis demonstrated the incompetence of both NATO and the European Union (EU) as the main international organizations representing the Western world. NATO's effective interferences in Kosovo and Libya increased expectations for another military intervention to secure political stability in Syria. However, NATO turned a blind eye to the Syrian crisis as did the EU, which was already preoccupied with its internal political, economic and social problems.

The Syrian crisis has uncovered the limitations of the United States' constructive power, while enjoying destructive power. The U.S. tries to control the region by allowing the political disarray of the regional states such as Iraq. It is clear that the U.S. is unable to control the world by itself; it has to share the responsibilities as well as the benefits of being a world hegemon. Therefore, it has had to allow Russia to get involved in the Syrian crisis. The Obama Administration's hesitation and non-engagement/selective engagement policy towards Syria is considered as one of the main reasons of the continuation of the crisis.

The crisis has demonstrated that despite being a part of the power game in the Middle East; internal and continental problems prevent European countries from pursuing an effective policy towards the region. Apparently, there is no common vision shared by key European powers towards the Middle East. They have been squeezed as a result of the power struggle between the U.S. and Russia. The Brexit referendum in particular helped in the...