Oil is the magic active ingredient of the modern Capitalist-industrial complex, and considering that it is a depleting non-renewable fuel the need to control its diminishing sources has become the imperative cause of the superpowers.
Has Syria Become a Proxy of the Second Cold War?
In one respect we can see the Syrian refugees as economic migrants, as there is a hell of a lot of outside money being put on the table, and it is their lives that are at stake.
Random Public Journal 