8 November 2013 | CIL Fireside Chat Series

Syria and International Law

Introduction

The civil war in Syria began as part of the Arab Spring in March 2011 and continues to cause extraordinary suffering for the Syrian people as we approach the end of 2013. The UN’s death toll for the conflict thus far is “over 100,000”.

The conflict entered a new phase in 2013 with the use of chemical weapons and threats by the US, France and the UK to intervene unilaterally. Fortunately, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to get rid of the chemical weapons in Syria. This led to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

In this final ‘CIL Fireside Chat’ for this year, Prof. Simon Chesterman, an expert in international law and UN law, and Prof. Peter Sluglett, an expert on the Middle East, tried to unravel the underlying legal and political considerations of the devastating conflict in Syria, and discussed the prospects of the upcoming “Geneva 2” peace conference.

Hosts & Panelists

Panelists:

Professor Simon Chesterman
Dean, NUS Faculty of Law

Professor Peter Sluglett
Visiting Research Professor, NUS Middle East Institute

Hosts:
Professor S. Jayakumar
Professor Tommy Koh