Pax Syriana (Lat., "Syrian Peace") is a historiographical term, modeled after the original phrase Pax Romana, used in the study of international relations in Western Asia, usually pertaining to efforts by Syria to influence its neighbors, particularly Lebanon. The idea behind Pax Syriana is that Syria (as it existed during the Ottoman Empire and as it was later partitioned into), through diplomacy and military strength, could secure a role for the United States by its being a necessary ally to ensure peace in Lebanon.
Later references
A later 1976 reference was published in Time magazine in 1976, referring to Syrian efforts to impose a truce during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. It has recently been used to refer to the period between 1990 and 2005 when there was reduced conflict within Lebanon, usually attributed to Syrian hegemony and military domination in the region. It may be used with emphasis on the relative calm following suppression of the Lebanese Civil War, or on suggestions of Syria's having intentions for annexing or otherwise pacifying Lebanon.
Syrian Lebanese war, 1976
On 4 July 1986, Syrian troops entered West Beirut for the first time since being expelled during the 1982 Israeli invasion. Approximately 500 Syrian troops, working with the Lebanese Army and police, cleared roadblocks, closed militia offices, and collected weapons. In mid-February 1987, however, a new round of fighting broke out in West Beirut, this time between Druze and Shia militias, both of which were regarded as Syrian allies. The combat was described by witnesses as being of unrivaled intensity in twelve years of war, with the militiamen using formations of Soviet-made T-54 tanks that Syria had supplied to both sides. Five days of combat caused an estimated 700 casualties and set much of West Beirut aflame.
Syria acted decisively to stop the chaos in West Beirut, and it seized the opportunity to reimpose its hegemony over the areas in Lebanon from which it had been evicted by Israel in 1982. On 22 February 1987, it dispatched 7,500 troops, configured in two brigades and a battalion, from eastern Lebanon. The Syrian troops, most of whom were veteran commandos, closed down some seventy militia offices, rounded up and arrested militia leaders, confiscated arms caches, deployed troops along the major roads and at Beirut International Airport, established checkpoints, and sent squads on patrol in the streets. In an online discussion with The Washington Post in November 2005, Syriana director Stephen Gaghan said he saw Syriana as "a great word that could stand for man's perpetual hope of remaking any geographic region to suit his own needs."
See also
- History of Syria
- History of Lebanon
- UN Security Council Resolution 1559
- Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act
- Syrian occupation of Lebanon
- Petroleum politics