Syrian Identity and Communication- CAPS #1

Syrian Identity and Here Comes 'Merica to Save the Day

A look at Syrian leadership and how that has affected the identity of Syria and why that is so important to the United States              

Identity: who we are. It isn’t just a fingerprint or a picture on our driver’s license. It is who we are as human beings and individuals that comprise our personalities, our beliefs, and our values. There are many things that play into that, such as age, gender, religion, and ethnicity; therefore, people and various cultural groups can differ in more ways than one.

               Let us first become aware of how identities are created, which are described in Intercultural Communication and Contexts by Martin and Nakayama. “Identity [can be] created in part by the self and in part in relation to group membership” (Martin & Nakayama, 2013, p. 171). This is the distinct definition of the Social Science approach to identity. There is a well-rounded combination of individualized, familial, and spiritual characteristics that make up an entire identity.  A second approach to identity creation is that of the Interpretive approach, which focuses on the communication with others, and there is an understanding of both the avowal and ascribed dimensions of communication. People perceive themselves through the avowal dimension, and the ascription dimension of the Interpretive approach regards how others create an identity for someone else based on their perceptions. Finally, the Critical approach to the creation of identity is shaped through social and historical force with a strong focus on what is constraining identity (injustice and oppression in society). This approach is highly concerned with the conflict within the context of identity and culture.

               As we have briefly discussed, identities are different in everyone. Although people and groups may share certain parts of their identity, identities ARE as unique as fingerprints. Therefore, it is not surprising that there becomes strong conflict when there are extreme differences in identity. There may be fights between boys and girls in pre-school, hatred towards homosexuals, and even war between nations who differ in religion, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, and regional affiliation. A recent example of this conflict is the decision for the United States to engage in military action against Syria. Why?! It is true that the U.S. has been seen as this sort of “peace-maker,” but it seems that sometimes, we just don’t have a place in certain situations. Is Syria one of those times?

               The U.S. clearly sees itself as this dominant force… almost like a babysitter to the entire world. Despite the fact that our country has enough problems of its own to worry about like hunger, disease, homelessness, a poor economy, a poor education system, etc. Why do we feel like we know it all and should intervene with all of the world’s problems?

               The issues with Syria stem from the conflicts with the identity of the U.S. and the national, regional, religious, and political identities of Syria, as well as the personal identity of Syria’s leader. According to Max Fisher’s article entitled “9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to asked,”

Syria is very diverse, ethnically and religiously, but most Syrians are ethnic Arab and follow the Sunni branch of Islam. Civilization in Syria goes back thousands of years, but the country as it exists today is very young. Its borders were drawn by European colonial powers in the 1920s. Syria is in the middle of an extremely violent civil war. Fighting between government forces and rebels has killed more 100,000 and created 2 million refugees, half of them children (Fisher, 2013).

              

Syria can be identified as a country of Islamic faith and political instability, so there is a huge opportunity for the U.S. to jump in on a “mission trip” to Syria to help spread the “good word of ‘Merica.” This is a true example of the dominant culture attempting to utilize its power over vulnerable places.

Because the U.S. has this strong national identity as being a country who attempts to intervene and “babysit” other countries, there is this pressure to continue on that path. What better babysitting client that Syria, who has this national identity as being a country in total chaos, with murder and rape and shootings as the norm?

The U.S. attempts to see itself as a country who values freedom of speech within their political identity, so when a country who is in war because of a lack thereof, it becomes a serious problem for the U.S. Remember, we need to be the “babysitter.” That is what started this whole thing in the first place isn’t it?

The killing started in April 2011, when peaceful protests inspired by earlier revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia rose up to challenge the dictatorship running the country. The government responded -- there is no getting around this -- like monsters. First, security forces quietly killed activists. Then they started kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing activists and their family members, including a lot of children, dumping their mutilated bodies by the sides of roads. Then troops began simply opening fire on protests. Eventually, civilians started shooting back.

Fighting escalated from there until it was a civil war. (Fisher, 2013)

The leader of Syria who essentially started all of this is President Bashar al-Assad. His personal identity is a huge factor of the current state and identity of the country. Using the Social Science approach, we can identify Assad as having close ties to his family. His father, being the former president of Syria, made an impression on Assad’s current ruling in that it is similar to the amount and extent of the mass killings and brutality and torture within his reign. Like father like son. Also, his strong sense of religion and strong distain for others plays into his identity in that he is supported by the Alawites. This group is heavily detested by other religious groups in that Assad gives special privileges to his religious followers. It can be said that because Assad is so heavily focused on his identity, he has an individualized identity and is trying to dictate that identity to the entire country, which is upsetting to his people; hence, the current extreme chaos.

               So like all good “babysitters,” the only logical thing to do to help the fighting country is to send them weapons and surround them with explosives, right? If the U.S. is deciding to become the middle-man in the Syria conflict (despite our failure to fix our own problems), then why are we responding with heavy military action, rather than trying to help the problematic Syrian leadership learn to effectively communicate with its people. Granted, because this is a long-running conflict, apologies will not be accepted graciously; however, it is clear that there is utter failure in Syrian communication. To be a good leader, you must know your people. The Syrian nation is one that is diverse with diverse identities. There must be effective intercultural communication in a country like Syria in order to function properly, and clearly, that has not happened whatsoever. It is obvious that there is a stubborn attitude within Syria leadership that is keeping a compromise from happening. People often become narrow-minded with their own beliefs, values, and in this case, their own identity; however, it needs to be understood that we cannot have seven billion clones of the same political leader walking about with the same ideas. It will never happen. And when a leader such as Assad has such controlling ideals about his country and such a lack of communication, it is inevitable that there will be bloody conflict.

References

Fisher, M.  (2013). “9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask.”  The Washington Post.  Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/.

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 

Memmott, M. (2013, September 3).  “2 million Syrians are now refugees and more are ‘on the way’”.  Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/03/218471534/2-million-syrians-are-now-refugees-and-more-are-on-the-way