According to the latest reports from the United States**, Russia sent between 500 and 1,000 elite ** soldiers from Syria into Ukraine in November 2022 to fight.
Although these soldiers are described as mercenaries, they have actually been working with Russia for many years, have strong combat effectiveness and familiar Russian language skills.
However, it is not surprising that Syrians are involved in the war in Ukraine, as Russia offers high remuneration and Syria needs to reciprocate the help it has given in the civil war.
After all, without Russia's strong involvement after 2015, Syria could have fallen, and now Syria may have become fragmented. In fact, mercenaries in the Russian-Ukrainian war have become a commonplace topic, not only involving disputes between Russia and Ukraine, but also the international competition behind them, which is fascinating.
But despite the fact that Syria is also involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war, like NATO countries, this country does not have a good impression in the minds of most people, because before 2010 it was small and transparent, and after that it was full of violent conflicts.
In the Middle East, where the rich are concentrated, Syria is unique and has been hailed as a model of "strong but not rich". Despite having oil fields, the country's economy as a whole is not rich due to limited production.
However, Syria has always been known for its military prowess, and at one time spent half of its national budget on military spending, ranking high in the Middle East's military power rankings.
In the 20th century, Syria was the representative of the Arabs, rushing to the forefront of every war with Israel, participating in five Middle East wars, and being hailed as a "model worker" in the war.
Before the outbreak of the civil war, Syria's national conditions were in the upper middle of the Middle East, although the national income was not high, but it was still rich, stable, and diplomatically successful, and it was an "old friend" of many countries in Europe and the United States.
However, the outbreak of the civil war completely changed the fate of Syria, bringing it to the bottom. This civil war is the longest and most devastating civil war of the 21st century, and as of 2020, it has caused 1The loss of 2 trillion dollars, 8-10 times the pre-war GDP.
So, what kind of country was Syria before the civil war? What was Syria's national power during and after the Cold War? Now that the civil war is coming to an end, how will Syria emerge from the shadow of the civil war?
Syria, a land that has endured many vicissitudes, has been a frequent visitor to war since ancient times. The eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where it is located, is one of the oldest regions in human history, having been active here since the 10th century AD.
The descendants of these ancient groups are the ancestors of today's Arabs and Israelis. They lived a nomadic life in this vast land stretching from the Arabian Peninsula in the south to the peninsula of Asia Minor in the north.
Syria is a unique geographical environment, with deserts in the east and the most fertile agricultural belt in the entire Middle East in the west, located on the "Fertile Crescent". This fertile belt originates in the Persian Gulf and extends through the "Two Rivers" to Syria and then south along the Mediterranean Sea to the mouth of the Nile.
Many glorious civilizations in the Middle East were born in the fertile land, such as Babylon and the ancient kingdom of Assyria in the valley of the two rivers. Unfortunately, Syria has never had a strong civilization, because it is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, and is a "land of four wars".
In ancient times, Syria was a wrestling ground between the mighty Egyptian and Hittite empires. In the 13th century BC, the Battle of Kadeshi opened the first large-scale war in human history.
However, despite the centuries-long struggle between Egypt and the Hittites, the two sides still failed to defeat their opponents and finally chose to reconcile. With the decline of Egypt and the Hittite Empire, the Persians took over the Fertile Crescent, but it was soon conquered by the Macedonian Empire.
Since then, the Syrian region has been under frequent changes of rule. With the rise of the Macedonian Empire, Greek culture flourished in Syria, and Damascus became the Hellenistic center of the Middle East.
Later, the rise of the Roman Empire and the radiation of Roman culture to West Asia, Syria became a Roman province and an important channel. What's more interesting is that the primitive ** religion was also born during this period, which laid the foundation for the ** religion that later radiated around the world.
After the ancient Roman Empire**, Syria became an important territory of the Eastern Roman Empire, and it became a prosperous trade route meeting point in Eurasia. In the 7th century, the Arabs occupied Damascus, making Syria the heart of the Arab Empire.
After the Middle Ages, Syria experienced invasions by Crusaders, Mongols, and Turks. At the end of antiquity, the Ottoman Turks ruled the land, and Syria continued as an imperial province until the 19th century.
After the end of World War II, Syria became independent from the French "protectorate" and officially gained independent status in 1946.
History opens a new chapter in Syria, and the region finally has its own regime, which is a groundbreaking event. Today, Syrians stand on the planet as masters, and their goal is to get ahead.
Syria, the full name of the Syrian Arab Republic, is the majority of the population with Arabs, as well as other minorities such as Kurds, Turks, and Armenians.
Since it is predominantly Arab, Syria's ambition is to become the leader of the Arab world. However, in 1948, the Jews were supported by the United Nations to establish Israel in the Palestinian region.
This was undoubtedly an invasion for the Arabs, so many Arab countries formed a coalition and launched an attack on Israel on May 14, 1948.
They had the support of Britain and France behind them, trying to wipe out the small country in one fell swoop.
Before the war, the Arabs thought the war was a hand-to-hand war because they had tanks and planes, while Israel didn't even have an army. Surprisingly, however, Israel was able to defeat the Arab coalition forces with police and militia alone.
Of course, Israel's victory, in addition to the support of the United States, was also due to the low quality of the Arab armies and the unwillingness of the countries to unite with their evil intentions. The First Middle East War was only the beginning of chaos in the Middle East, and over the next 30 years, the Arabs fought four major wars with Israel, each time ending in Israeli victory.
In these wars, although the Arabs were all hostile to Israel, it was Egypt and Syria that fought on the front lines, with Egypt being the "big brother" of the Arabs and Syria being the "second brother".
Syria and Egypt are close as brothers, and both are Arab countries that embrace secular Islam. Between 1958 and 1961, the two countries even briefly merged into"Arab League"。
However, because Syria was dissatisfied with Egypt's dominance in the alliance, it eventually withdrew from the alliance. In addition, Syria is fighting valiantly, not only for national righteousness, but also for land.
Both countries share a border with Palestine and have long sought to carve up this coastal land, and Jordan has taken the opportunity to expand its territory. However, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries are far away from Palestine and cannot benefit from it, so they naturally lack interest in war.
In the first three wars in the Middle East, the Arabs suffered heavy defeats, and the third Middle East war was particularly tragic, which can be said to have broken the backbone of the Arabs.
In this war, the air forces of Syria and Egypt, Jordan were destroyed, and Syria also lost the Golan Heights. Every time it was defeated, Syria turned to the USSR for help.
Syria at that time relied mainly on agriculture to sustain the functioning of the country, and until the 21st century, the country remained the most important grain exporter in the Middle East. In the beginning, the people were satisfied with this dependence, but as this situation turned back, the people's living conditions became more and more impoverished, and the business became more and more difficult.
Syria** has long suffered from reckless militarism, the country's economy is facing difficulties, and the people's will supported by nationalism alone is very fragile, which is prone to internal turmoil.
* Intrigue at the top, coups d'état, and often military self-proclaimed kings. However, in 1956, the fate of Syria took a turn. Northeast Syria is rich in oil, and although the reserves are small, they are enough to make a good living for millions of people.
As a result, Syria began large-scale oil extraction in the 60s, although the initial income was good, but due to the consumption of a lot of oil in the country, and ** extremely corrupt, the army and ** high-level extravagance and waste, a large amount of state-owned property was embezzled, so in the first 10 years of the discovery of oil fields, Syria did not get rich.
Although Syria's oil exports are not fast, due to the limited number of oil-producing countries on the Mediterranean coast, Syria's geographical location has quickly made it an important oil country in Europe.
It's like providing a kind of "insurance" for the oil business in Syria. In the 70s, with the outbreak of the oil crisis, Syria finally began to enjoy dividends, and its GDP increased from $1.7 billion in 1970 to $13 billion in 1980, an increase of nearly 8 times.
In the 80s, with the economic boom, Syria opened its doors and introduced foreign capital to develop oil fields deeply. However, Syria did this mainly because the shallow oil fields on the surface had been depleted, and Syria's own technology was not enough to exploit the oil fields deeper underground, so it had to import foreign technology.
In Syria, power has always been in the hands of the old Assad family. The elder Assad is a native of the Alawite sect of Islam and served as the leader of the Arab Baath Party, during which time he built Syria into place"Alawite colony"。
Alawite Muslims took power and the army, and their economic interests were divided among them and their supporters. Despite the fact that Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the country's population, they are unhappy about this.
Fortunately, during the reign of the elder Assad, the war in the Middle East was largely over, and Syria no longer faced a strong threat of war, so most of the finances could be spent on economic construction.
The Assad family is committed to improving welfare and improving people's living standards after Syria's economic take-off. They invest in light industry to keep the economy growing, but because Syria itself is an agrarian country and lacks a heavy industry base, building a systematic heavy industry requires a lot of start-up capital.
Although Syria has oil field revenues, it is unable to carry out large-scale industrial construction due to lack of funds, and can only rely on state-owned enterprises to maintain the operation of lifeblood industries. At that time, Syria had better relations with Western countries because it was a secular country in the Middle East and rich in oil resources, so European and American countries were friendly to the Assad family.
In addition, Bashar al-Assad, the son of the elder Assad, also received a Western-style education and was half-British, he was educated in London and became a doctor, and if it weren't for his father who made him **, he would probably have stayed in England forever.
In 2000, Syria welcomed a new leader, Bashar, who took over the legacy of the elder Assad. The humid climate in western Syria is suitable for growing agricultural products, making Syria a grain exporter.
In order to increase farmers' incomes and the country's foreign exchange reserves, Bashar decided to promote the cultivation of cash crops in agricultural areas. The central region of Syria is a fortress of ancient trade routes, with numerous ancient towns and ancient relics such as Greek, Roman, and Ottoman, which provide unique conditions for the development of tourism.
Seeing this, Bashar decided to invest in tourism in the central region in the hope of bringing in more revenue. Although the climate in eastern Syria is arid and desert is predominant, there are abundant oil resources in the ground, which can bring billions of dollars in revenue every year.
Seeing this potential, Bashar decided to vigorously develop the oil industry in the east. Bashar is confident in his plans, and he plans to take Syria's economy to a new level in the next 10 years, making it a regional power.
Between 2000 and 2011, Syria experienced unprecedented rapid development, with its national GDP growing from $80 billion to $250 billion, an average annual growth rate of more than 5%, and its per capita GDP rising from $1,100 to $3,000, reaching the world's upper middle level.
Even before the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, Syria was one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. However, all of this has changed in Bashar's attempt to dismantle inefficient state-owned enterprises and distribute capital to the private sector by deregulating politics and speech, encouraging the vitality of the private sector, and "drawing a big pie" on the economy.
While these measures boosted economic development in the short term and made Bashar popular at home, it was not long before opposition emerged in the country.
Syria's economic development model is dominated by agriculture, with relatively weak industrial development. The state lacks the necessary industrial resources, high-tech and financial support, so there are difficulties in the voluntary construction of skyscrapers by the people.
Although Bashar has invested a certain amount of capital in the private sector, due to the existence of the corrupt officials, this capital has been consumed in large quantities, state-owned assets have been lost, and the unemployment rate of the private sector has increased.
In an effort to alleviate domestic discontent, Assad has improved people's livelihoods, including through economic subsidies, but this has not solved the underlying problem. Although Syria has ostensibly maintained economic growth since 2008, the reality is that it is riddled with domestic problems.
In the early days of the civil war, NATO strongly supported the Syrian opposition, and Bashar**, who was once regarded as a guest of honor in Europe and the United States, became a much-accused "tyrant" in the blink of an eye.
As the war progressed, two opposing forces gradually formed in Syria. This civil war is like a miniature version of the world war, in which major powers are involved, the United States provides ** and funds, and Russia is directly involved in counterinsurgency operations.
Syria has not released any economic data since 2011. According to the United Nations, Syria's GDP shrank by half in 2012 alone, and has been declining for several years, and the economy may not even be as good now as it was in the 90s.
The devastating effects of the war have been staggering, with almost all Syrian cities, including the capital, Damascus, devastated by the war, and places such as Deir Ezzor and Aleppo even reduced to rubble.
The war has also displaced a third of the country's population, killed 700,000 people, and caused destructive poaching or outright destruction of a large number of oil fields.
1.2 trillion economic losses, one-third of the population outflow, the country has a long way to go After a decade of war, Syria's GDP has returned to the level of the end of the Cold War, but this does not mean that the country's economy has returned to its pre-war state.
According to statistics, Syria endured more than 1$2 trillion in economic losses, not counting the tens of billions needed to clean up the rubble and rebuild cities.
This huge economic loss makes the reconstruction of Syria extremely difficult, taking decades or even half a century. To make matters worse, the war has led to an exodus of one-third of the population, a large proportion of whom are young adults, which is a lasting blow to Syria.
Although Iran, China, Russia and other countries are willing to help Syria rebuild, it is they who really bring the country back to production and revitalize the country. At present, Syrian refugees are mainly distributed in Europe, and Europeans absorb them into low-level labor-intensive industries to generate income for themselves.
If these refugees were able to return to their home countries, Bashar's reconstruction plan would be much different. However, it will take time to see whether those refugees will be able to abandon the superior material conditions of Europe and return to their homeland in poverty.