As the civil conflict rages on in Syria, reconciliation seems far from achievable. The United Nations must recognize the potential implications of such a drawn out conflict.

The international community has dealt with an identical humanitarian crisis before in Somalia, reaching unprecedented levels: 1.5 million displaced internally, approximately 400,000 displaced externally, and 5 million in need of humanitarian assistance (United Nations Crisis Report).

Syria has already far surpassed Somalia in its disregard for humanitarian law and the lives of millions of civilians. What took Somalia approximately 16 years to accomplish has taken Syria three: 2 million displaced internally, 1 million displaced externally across neighboring countries, and an inexcusable 4 million citizens in need of humanitarian assistance (United Nations Centre Report on Syria).

The recent United Nations strategy in Syria has focused around alleviating the humanitarian crisis and less on ending the political stalemate — the same stance taken in Somalia. They must take a harder line with both the Assad regime and the Syrian National Council to bring about a political reconciliation, and make a concerted effort to put an end to the conflict.

As effective as these efforts may have been in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, the long-term consequences included a collapsed state and an ensuing power vacuum with no political reconciliation in sight.

If a hard diplomatic stance is not taken to end the conflict, Syria may very well represent the worst state collapse in the post-Cold War era.

Gradi Schutt, Farmington