Commentary
Perry Cammack, Cassia Bardos
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Source: Getty
In The Media
The Staggering Price of Syria’s Reconstruction
Five years of war in Syria have left large swathes of the country in ruin. While an end to the war is nowhere in sight, a reconstruction bill that is likely to run well over $100 billion means that planning for Syria's eventual rebuilding must start now.
Published on Feb 11, 2016
Source: Syria Deeply
Five years of war in Syria have left large swathes of the country in ruin. And with the peace process on the brink of collapse, an end to the war is nowhere in sight. But with a reconstruction bill that is likely to run well over $100 billion, planning for Syria's eventual rebuilding must start now
The cataclysmic destruction of Syria challenges human comprehension. The old city of Aleppo, which like Damascus claims to be the oldest settlement on the planet, has been reduced to rubble. Homs was once the country’s third most populous city, but has mostly beendepopulated.
With the international Syria peace process teetering on the edge of collapse, a political solution seems distant. But every war must end. The rebirth of Dresden, Berlin, and Stalingrad (later renamed Volgograd) after the unthinkable destruction of World War II is a testament to human resiliency and a symbol of what may eventually be possible in Syria. Regardless of whether Syria can be stitched together as a unitary state or is instead permanently partitioned, rebuilding its infrastructure to even modest pre-war levels will require a generational effort...
About the Author
Perry Cammack
Former Nonresident Fellow, Middle East Program
Perry Cammack was a nonresident fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on long-term regional trends and their implications for American foreign policy.
- General Mobilization
- Arab Horizons: Pitfalls and Pathways to ReformArticle
Perry Cammack
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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