Syrian Civil War

The Syrian Civil War, which began with anti-government protests in 2011, produced one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of the twenty-first century. The Assad regime used chemical weapons against civilian populations (most notoriously in Ghouta in August 2013, when sarin gas attacks killed approximately 1,400 people). Approximately 500,000 Syrians have died in the war. Approximately 12 million have been displaced (more than half the prewar population), with 6 million internally displaced and 6 million as refugees. The war involved many parties including the Assad regime, various rebel groups, the Islamic State, Kurdish forces, Turkey, the United States, Russia, and Iran. The international community proved unable to stop the killing despite obvious atrocities.