This chapter offers context to the primary case study of this book – the Syrian civil war. It does this by elaborating more fully on two broader topics – on the one hand, a historical overview of the Syrian regime and the onset of the revolution; and on the other hand, a summary of the major ceasefires used during the civil war. These two subjects are of course inexorably interconnected. By providing an overview of some of the important aspects of Syria’s recent political and social history, we gain a better understanding and appreciation of two themes of relevance for this book: firstly, the nature of the Syrian state, in particular the structure and essence of the Assad regime; and secondly, the ramifications of this for how ceasefires have played out during the Syrian civil war.

The end of the British Mandate created a vacuum. The Zionist leadership was better prepared and Britain betrayed its obligations under the mandate and disregarded the Palestinian quest for independence. The result was a free hand to the Zionist movement to carry out the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that led to the expulsion of half of its population and the destruction of half of its villages and most of its towns.

The negotiations over the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty raised fundamental legal issues of conflict between different treaties and the right to collective self-defence. International law was unable to give unambiguous answers to these issues. The two parties have maintained the peace for over forty years not because of the legal wording of the Peace Treaty, but because it is in their national interests. To the best knowledge of the author, the parties have never had resource to the language of the Peace Treaty, except as regards the changes in the security arrangements, and settling the Taba dispute. Nevertheless, it was important for both sides to try and ensure legal language that represented their interests, and the Peace Treaty can be seen as an extremely successful example of legal draftsmanship. The language of the treaty was copied, nearly verbatim, in successive peace treaties that Israel signed with other Arab States. Begin and Sadat received the Nobel Peace prize, a leading textbook on treaty law chose a picture of the signing ceremony with Begin, Carter and Sadat as the photo on its cover, a compliment to the treaty drafting of Egypt and Israel, done with the help of the United States.

This chapter reconstructs and analyzes the Libyan crisis and the international response from February 26, 2011, to March 17, when the Security Council adopted resolution 1973. The chapter examines how the violence in Libya escalated and analyzes the Libyan regime’s approach as well as the manner in which the opposition operated. Subsequently, it assesses the response of the international community to the deteriorating crisis in Libya. While the UN continued to mount pressure on the Qadhafi regime, other international actors also played a prominent role, notably the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and a number of regional organizations such as the Arab League. The analysis demonstrates that the decision President Obama ultimately took to approve the use of “all necessary measures” in order to protect civilians, was inspired by the principles of the "just war," and was of crucial importance for the Security Council’s authorization to use military force. The chapter examines the decision-making processes leading to the adoption of resolution 1973, and analyzes the substance of the resolution – as well as its inherent ambivalence.

The intense release of energy by four successive earthquakes that we analysed in the second chapter and the aftershocks they have triggered has rendered seismic dynamism systemic. The most significant feature of this systemic earthquake is the 'fragility' that it has fostered in every component of the system. Fragility is defined as the loss of internal harmony and resistance in the structural components of any order as a result of earthquake impacts.

An analysis at the national, regional and global levels of the fragilities caused by the systemic earthquake process currently under way is of critical importance with respect to developing the ability to conduct a damage assessment of these fragilities, preparing for the possibilities of a surprise collapse, and taking the necessary measures for rehabilitation.

The third chapter examines the effects of the systemic earthquake that has emerged from within this accumulated legacy on national, regional and global structures.

This conclusion both briefly revisits the causal arguments that make up the book’s general(izable) framework and highlights the role of idiosyncrasy, contingency, and agency in the divergent normative trajectories of regional societies of Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. It then considers the applicability of the book’s theory to a new case – the “Arab” region (defined by membership in the League of Arab States).The last section of the chapter discusses the status of sovereignty in the South today; challenges for intrusive regionalism moving forward; and the normative implications of non-interference and its institutionalized violations.