The ongoing Syrian civil war has begun to intensify strained international relations with the United States.

At the beginning of 2011, anti-government protests began in Syria. Since then, the country has been plunged into civil war. Other states have entered in support of both sides. Iran has publicly announced support for the Syrian army, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts have bled over the borders and most recently it was announced Saudi Arabia is in the process of training rebel forces.

States outside the region are taking stances as well, including Russia, China and the U.S. In September, U.S. weapons began channeling their way into Syria to aid the rebels.

What is going on in Syria?

The real problem started when Syria began using chemical weapons against its people during the conflicts.

“We have signed on to the chemical weapons convention, Russia signed on  —  Syria is a signatory,” said Leah Graham, professor of political science. “If we just blow that off, then we’re now saying these disgusting weapons can be utilized against anyone.”

Syria has been asked to get rid of them now and are following the rules so what the U.S. should do next is not necessarily black and white, Graham said.

What are the factors?

In order to understand what may happen, we have to take a step back and look at all the smaller pictures. While the United States and Saudi Arabia don’t necessarily agree on how to go about this process, they both want the same outcome. Iran has a greater influence over the actions of Saudi Arabia, though.

“If Iran gets nuclear power, then Saudi Arabia is going to react and that just escalates the whole conflict,” said Tim Collins, professor of political science. “Likewise, if Russia or China were to be involved in any UN peacekeeping efforts, the United States would definitely want to be there to balance the scales.”

However, the chances of the U.S. sending in troops, even a peacekeeping force, are slim.

“There does seem to be a kind of push in U.S. foreign policy back towards multilateralism, letting these IGOs — intergovernmental organizations — that we helped create, do the function that we expected them to serve,” said Graham. “It is in our best interest to garner international support so we don’t have to shoulder the burden.”

Is the international community affected?

The U.S. has a vested interest in the region, which is home to countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Israel. The outcome of the war will have major ramifications for the international community as a whole, but more specifically the U.S.

There are going to be large numbers of people seeking asylum — here and elsewhere — in addition to the large number of people flowing out of Syria we will probably see some horrific human rights abuses taking place,  Graham said.

The conditions most refugees are going to be living in are going to be pretty low quality so you are also going to see an increase in sickness and disease. Combine this with cultural differences and the societal strain of supporting a large group of immigrants, and this is going to have a major effect on the surrounding countries, said David Austen, adjunct instructor for the department of geography.

Should the U.S. get itself involved?

Graham considers involvement to be a test of America’s pledge to be a superpower, she said.

“This is another critical test of our idealistic claims. Do we really care about what is going on in the rest of the world? Are human rights important? Is the sake of the population important to follow? I’d say in this case, yeah,” Graham said. “But you are also looking at a precarious position for who could be in control of a major point of interest, strategically.”

If a peace agreement can not be reached, then America should step in, said sophomore Celia Bostick. 

“If they can’t resolve anything through peace I think we need to step in,” Bostick said. “I feel like we have such a great life here and they don’t have those same opportunities  — it’s almost our obligation.”

Senior Abdullah Al-Wafi from Saudi Arabia thinks the U.S. should play less of a role and focus on it’s own development, he said. 

“The question we should be asking is should we be spending money on foreign aid when we have so much going on at home,” Collins said.