Syria’s War, Islamic Legitimacy, and “Order versus Anarchy” (Traversing Tradition crosspost)

Bism Allah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim.

This is an article I wrote for Traversing Tradition that was intended as a rebuttal of a well-meant but essentially flawed earlier article by Faizan Malik, which claimed wrongly that Syria’s tyrannous regime should be recognized in its “triumph” over the decade-long revolt in order to send aid for the calamitous earthquakes that struck Syria and Turkey this month. That article was subsequently taken down, but this was published as a response. https://traversingtradition.com/2023/02/24/syrias-conflict-islamic-legitimacy-and-order-versus-anarchy/

The Roots of Regional Wars (Ummatics Institute, Crosspost)

Bism Allah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim.

This is an article I wrote over the winter for Ummatics Institute, comparing the roots and trajectories of regional wars in Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. In each case a supposedly unifying dictatorship maintained itself through societal fragmentation, which eventually engulfed the regime and land in civil wars that drew in neighbouring powers. https://ummatics.org/geopolitics-and-international-relations/the-roots-of-regional-wars/