The United States’ involvement in the Syrian civil war could be described as ambiguous. At first, President Obama told the world that the US would not interfere in the Syrian turmoil right after the Arab Spring. Yet, a few years later military aid is shipped to the opposition and bombing campaigns are conducted in Syria.The purpose of this study is to examine and discuss the actions of the United States in the Syrian civil war through a qualitative case study, drawing upon two theoretical approaches: The ubiquitous realism and liberalism. These theories describe different approaches to how actors in the international arena might be understood. Findings of this study indicate that the theories of both realism and liberalism can help to explain a number of aspects of US action in Syria. The different answers from the theories are predominantly in line with each theoretical description; both theories lend support to the view that that the intervention against the Islamic State could be interpreted as an act to enhance US national security. In addition, this study aims to contribute to the cumulative process of understanding the security strategies of the United States of America.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:fhs-7483 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Jonsson Wastesson, Oscar |
| Publisher | Försvarshögskolan |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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