Journal - Orient Online

The reconstruction of Syria: The winners share the loot

Stefan Lukas

After more than nine years of war, the situation in Syria has improved only slightly. Although most of the major front lines have now disappeared, military conflicts continue to dominate events in the country. But while fighting continues throughout the country in provinces like Idlib or in smaller operations against IS, the victors are already dividing up the country and its treasures. Russia, Iran and China in particular are trying to derive the greatest possible economic and strategic benefit from the situation. In addition, there is a regime that is dividing up the remaining economic assets among itself and its closest circles while at the same time the general population is coming under increasing pressure. But what options for action do the states of the European Union have in all this, or are their actors already doomed to powerlessness?

Stefan Lukas is a lecturer at the Chair of International Relations at the University of Jena and guest lecturer at the Military Academy of German Armed Forces in Hamburg. Lukas researches and publishes primarily on the security policy of the states of the Middle East. In addition to China's influence in the Middle East, his current research focuses primarily on the effects of climate change on the region's security policy.