as the terrorist group spreads throughout civil war-torn Syria. With the country in

a total state of chaos, and Bashar Al-Assad taking widely condemned military action against

his citizens, Syria is considered one of the least peaceful countries in the world. So,

how powerful is Syria?

Well, before the start of the ongoing 2011 civil war, Syria was already a pretty bad

place to live. Since 1963, the country has been non-democratically ruled by the Assad

family, with no constitutional protections for their citizens under a form of martial

law. The dramatic shift caused by the Arab Spring and leading to the civil war has had

significant repercussions.

In what has been called one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies of our era,

the war forced the evacuation and displacement of almost half the country’s 18 million

residents. Of them, 6.5 million have been forced out of their homes, about 3 million

have fled outside the country, and at least 200,000 have been killed between March 2011

and April 2014.

Before the war, Syria was mostly an oil country, with petroleum accounting for half of their

exports. However, their GDP was only about 60 billion, ranked roughly 70th in the world.

And even without the war, the country is running into declining oil production, high unemployment,

unequal supply and demand of water, and unsustainable population growth. A recent report said that

it would take Syria at least three decades to rebuild their meager economy after the

end of the conflict.

Syria’s military has also taken a big hit. Even though their forces are staffed through

conscription, the number of enlisted members has dropped by 55% from 325,000 to 150,000.

Many have been killed or have left the country. This has resulted in a campaign to force those

who have finished their military service to be forced back into duty.

The country’s problems have only been exacerbated by the almost intentional presence of ISIS,

which has captured a number of Syrian cities and oilfields, and diverted much of the country’s

wealth and resources onto themselves. With these new allegations that Bashar Al-Assad

has been helping ISIS, Syria’s power has some terrifying implications. So how powerful

is Syria? Powerful enough to destroy its own population and economy, and serve as a breeding

ground for the violently powerful terrorist state.