Predictable and Unexpected Compromise: UN Humanitarian Aid Comes to Syria for Another Year

Shifts in regional impacts on the Syrian conflict zone determined Russia’s flexible stance in the debates in the UN Security Council on the issue of humanitarian aid. The compromise that has left one cross-border channel open was achieved through a bilateral US-Russia deal, but Ireland and Norway performed the work on preparing the resolution. Post-war reconstruction in Syria is progressing slowly, and Russia is concerned about the stability of the al-Assad regime. Most external stake-holders are content with the current situation, but economic dislocation and insufficiency of international aid generate discontent and amplify new sources of conflict. By mid-2022, follow-up debates in the UN Security Council may reflect a new escalation of the Syrian war.