Unbalanced development and political unrest in Syria

Since the beginning of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 Syria has been continually subjected to instability, unrest and civil war between Assad government and opposition groups. Syrian problem has turned to a dilemma for the international society. Arguing about the roots and causes of unrest in Syria has been undergone in academic community until now. Given the diversity of causes and complexity of conditions in this country, every approach and theory can explain just some part of the issue. Author in this article views the issue from the lens of Huntington's “Unbalanced Developmentˮ theory. Research findings show that in Bashar Assad era, the trends of economic development and political development have not been balanced or harmonized; this means that despite of the moving toward the economic liberalization, Assad government tilted toward the authoritarianism in political realm. And this unbalanced situation led to the reaction of the society in the forms of protests, instability and unrest in Syria. Besides this structural factor, the role of foreign actors via protecting the government or opposition groups is very important in deteriorating the situation and continuation of the crisis.