A Critical Look At The Securitization of Climate Change in the Context of the Syrian Civil War Cover Image

İklim Değişikliğinin Güvenlikleştirilmesine Suriye İç Savaşı Bağlamında Eleştirel Bir Bakış
A Critical Look At The Securitization of Climate Change in the Context of the Syrian Civil War

Author(s): Ahmet Conker
Subject(s): Physical Geopgraphy, Security and defense, Studies in violence and power, Environmental interactions, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü
Keywords: Climate Change; Securitization; Syria; Civil War;

Summary/Abstract: There have been numbers of academic studies that connect the Syrian civil war with climate change. According to this view, the Syrian civil war is yet another example of how climate change may trigger and exacerbate armed conflicts. This approach's main argument is that the long-standing drought in Syria is a consequence of the climate change that led to mass domestic migration and triggered the uprising. The study aims to analyse how the securitising elites portrayed climate change as a threat by exemplifying the Syrian civil war and by showing why such securitisation is problematic. This paper argues that the securitisation of climate change is problematic, owing to the following reasons. First, the causality between climate change and its role in the erupt of the Syrian uprising is still debated. Second, it overshadows the incompetence and the responsibility of the Baath Regime. Third, the weak spots between climate change and the civil war give climate change deniers to make counterarguments

  • Issue Year: 18/2020
  • Issue No: 04
  • Page Range: 155-170
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Turkish