The UN Security Council’s Role in the Syrian Crisis: Pain killer in Low Politics and Poor Record in High Politics (2011-2018)

The Arab Spring’s wave arrived in Syria on 26 January 2011 and the unrest flared up on 15 March 2011 in the city of Daraa, 58 kilometers south of Damascus. Since then, Syria has been immersed in a civil war. The Security Council adopted different measures to contain this crisis. The main objective of the present research is to analyze the performance of the United Nations Security Council in tackling the Syrian crisis. The findings of the present research imply that the Security Council, in its role as a conflict moderator, has shown a positive performance particularly in such areas as instituting ceasefire, deploying peacekeeping forces, promoting humanitarian activities, facilitating the political transition process, securing the territorial integrity of the country, assisting the refugees and controlling Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. Even so, this body, due to the veto power of the permanent members, the complex nature of the crisis, and the conflictual interests of Russia and the United States and regional actors, has not been spectacularly successful in the termination of the armed conflict and enforcing peace. In order to explicate the matter, a descriptive-analytical method based on qualitative content analysis has been utilized and the library, internet-based resources, and United Nations documents have been used.