What are the solutions to the Syrian crisis?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What are the solutions to the Syrian crisis?
Position‹3 of 4›: The internationalisation of the conflict must end
Argument‹4 of 4: Syria must rejoin the Arab League

After it's suspension from the Arab League due to the worsening of violence in Syria under Assad rule in 2011, it is important that the Arab League restores its monitoring mission to aid the creation of a new democracy.

The argument

Syria's crisis is worsened by international players involving themselves in the dilemma. The US, the UN, and Russia turn the conflict from regional to global, leading to stronger weapons and higher stakes for the violence in Syria. The escalation is not incidental to their involvement but a consequence of it: once powers of that size have interests at stake, what they supply and what they are willing to risk both rise, and the war becomes harder for anyone inside it to end. In addition, the separate conflicts between world powers are played out in Syria, adding more instability to the region, so the country absorbs the costs of quarrels that are not its own. If Syria's affairs were handled domestically, instead of globally, the conflict would be managed much more peacefully. The Arab League nations are closer to Syria, and as Middle Eastern nations, more similar. That proximity matters for two reasons on this argument. The first is comprehension: by relying on Western and European powers to resolve the conflict, Syria is relying on nations that can never truly understand the sources of the conflict. The second is experience — the Middle Eastern nations in the Arab League are much more similar countries and have experienced much more similar crises to Syria than Western nations have, so their judgement about what will work rests on cases that resemble this one. There is also a question of stake. Neighbouring states live with the consequences of the outcome in a way distant powers do not, which on this reasoning aligns their interests with a settlement rather than with an advantage. By rejoining the Arab League, Syria could solve its crisis better with regional states than international ones.

Context

The Arab league is a confederation of Middle Eastern countries that aims to improve communication and cooperation in the region. In 2011, Syria was expelled from the league because of the government's violence against protesting citizens.

Premises

[P1]International players—the US, UN and Russia—turn Syria's regional conflict into a global one, raising the stakes and playing out separate great-power rivalries that add instability. [P2] Arab League nations are geographically and culturally closer to Syria and have faced more similar crises, so they could manage the conflict more peacefully than Western powers that cannot grasp its sources. [C] Therefore Syria must rejoin the Arab League so that the internationalisation of the conflict can end.

Counter-arguments

The Arab League cannot help Syria as much as the international community because it does not have the resources. Despite their similarities to Syria, the UN and the US are simply more powerful. The Syrian crisis is out of the Middle East's league and needs to be handled on a global scale. In addition, the Arab League's similarity to Syria is precisely why they shouldn't be the ones to solve the crisis. The Arab League consists partly of autocratic dictators just like Assad- which will simply encourage human rights violations and give more support to the regime, instead of diplomatically solving the issue.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Internationalization of the conflict provides valuable resources, it doesn't make it worse.