The international community's deafening silence on Syria

War as we know it between states has taken a downward trend in recent years, while civil wars and terrorist attacks have become the new normal in international relations. This change in the characteristics of the conflicts has not produced security and stability in the international system, but if anything, it has made the world less secure. In the midst of rampant conflicts around the world, there is a lack of reliable leadership who can play a critical role in convincing global powers to find a common ground toward peace and prosperity, and to prop up the system in such a way that would encourage development instead of conflict.

The world has been witnessing the "worst humanitarian crisis in the last decades" in Syria, in the words of Antonio Guterres, the former head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and soon-to-be secretary-general of the U.N. Since the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011, more than 400,000 people have been killed in Syria, almost 5 million people have become refugees and 6.3 million Syrians have been internally displaced. These make up the largest number of people displaced by any conflict in the world.

The most recent catastrophe occurred in Aleppo with the latest push from regime forces to recapture the city from rebels with the help of its Russian and Iranian allies. The bitter fight for Aleppo once more showed that all sides on the ground disregard civilians in their fight to control territory. Even a peaceful evacuation of civilians from the besieged city was not possible due to attacks from various forces. Finally on Sunday, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) reached a rare resolution to deploy a U.N. team to monitor and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians.

Responsibility for such a...