The Syrian Crisis: Challenging Dominant Narratives

As civil war continues to rage in Syria, civilian populations have been left without adequate protection and no safe escape from the violence. The brutality of this civil war has once again placed the UN system in crisis as the limits of international protection are brought into focus. While Russia, France, and the U.S. seem to be on a collision course in a proxy war being fought in Syria based on differing alliances and geopolitical strategies, recent attempts to restrain the veto power of the permanent 5 members of the UN Security Council in the face of mass atrocities has added a new level of complexity. Against this backdrop of worsening international relations and a UN deadlock, Syrian civilians continue to suffer and die in conditions of prolonged precarity.

Some of the questions that will be addressed are: How should we interpret the crises? What are the dominant narratives that frame the conflict and how are they preventing cooperation and protection of civilians? What legal mechanisms are still available for protection? What spaces exist or can be opened for solidarity and international action to contribute to the protection of vulnerable populations?

Panelists: Prof. Tanya Monforte, visiting O'Brien Fellow in Residence; Prof. Frédéric Mégret, Canada Research Chair in the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (McGill); and Prof. Stefan Winter, a scholar of the history of the Middle East and the Maghreb (UQAM)