I was just sitting watching the US open with my mom and there was a news break interrupting the event with an update on the Syria conflict. Russia, as an ally of Syria, has offered to intervene and is negotiating a way for the Russians to safely remove any chemical threats from the destructive hands of Syria. In press conferences today Obama has remarked on the issue that, "It's possible if it's real." This could provide a silver lining to the American troops, allowing them to stay home with their families for a while longer. You can find more details here.
The thing that came to my mind is that this conflict seems to be a flashback to a mere thirty years ago when it was us in this situation with Russia. Nothing seems to have changed. Just last year I was learning about The Cold War in history class and viewing it as a thing of the past, something I would only experience in textbooks. But those same allies that I learned about in the textbooks are the same ones I see in this current conflict. Our nation versus the nation of Syria, allied with our old rivals Russia and Iran, all on the verge of destruction. We are even fighting with the same tactics as in the past as we are using a form of MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) when they threaten to attack with chemical weapons and we counter with the threat of a military invasion. I have heard that history repeats itself, this is just the first time, and surely not the last time, that I am truly understanding and experiencing it first hand.
Do you believe the Syria conflict will end up resembling the cold war? What are other examples when history has repeated itself? Feel free to leave a comment!
I agree in that history tends to repeat itself, and has shown examples of the (in your words) "reacurring cycle". I think in this situation, America should use the cycle to its advantage, using the Cold War as a model (positively and negatively) to solve the Syria crisis with out causing major problems for the U.S.
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