UN Envoy Warns Syria Could Become Failed State

UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is warning that it is possible Syria’s civil war could lead to a failed state, underlining the need to find a resolution to the conflict quickly.

Brahimi believes that failure of the two sides to find a political solution could cause the “full collapse of the Syrian state,” threatening the world’s security.

Yahoo! News reports that Brahimi has suffered from a lack of progress in attempting to broker a peace treaty between President Bashar Assad’s regime and the Syrian rebels. In urging the two sides to work together, Brahimi predicted that the war could cost the lives of 100,000 people in the next year, adding that Syria is moving toward “Somalization.”

Brahimi’s proposal calls for an open-ended cease-fire, as well as the formation of a transitional government to run the country until elections can be held and a new constitution can be drafted.

But so far, neither side has shown any interest in negotiating. The political leadership for the rebels is calling for Assad to step down before they will negotiate a treaty, while Assad refuses to back down until elections are held.

ABC News notes that Brahimi has been holding talks with the Syrian government for the past week, as well as with Russian officials in Moscos and the head of the Arab League in Cairo. In urging the two sides to come together and work out a treaty, Lakhdar Brahimi stated:

“Peace and security in the world will be threatened directly from Syria if there is no solution within the next few months. The alternatives are a political solution or the full collapse of the Syrian state.”

The crisis in Syria began in March of 2011 with peaceful protests against Assad’s government. Since then, the conflict has erupted into an all out war between the two sides that has left more than 45,000 people dead, according to activist groups.

The government does not provide a death toll in their updates. instead, they blame the conflict on foreign powers seeking to destroy the country, and they call the rebels terrorists.

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