Ah, how grand it is to be an American— the only mines we worry about are on the Minesweeper window that we keep open as we track our Domino’s Pizza delivery online. In our suburban lexicon, “gas attacks” merely refer to post-digestive Chipotle scents. Our idea of torture is taking an SAT practice test.

As Americans, we complain (and then promise not to complain after watching slideshows of starving Ethiopian orphans accompanied by Sarah McLaughlin’s “In the Arms of an Angel”) about our petty “First World problems.” We live in privilege and we are entitled to luxuries that many children and adults around the world envy. Why should we care about the developments in Syria, then?

After all, the media and airwaves have largely downplayed coverage of the ongoing conflict, opting instead to discuss more pressing domestic stories such as what New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is or isn’t (but most likely is) eating or whether or not the government can deport Justin Bieber. But even if Syrian developments have been relatively quieter lately, at least depending on the source, the situation remains relevant.

Syria is a ticking time bomb placed in the center of an international tug-of-war arena. No matter how many canisters of sarin gas are thrown or how many threats the international community makes, there is no bright or hopeful outcome in a Syria dominated by social and religious struggles. Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has not loosened his ironclad grip and is determined to hold onto his Levantine throne. A heterogeneous spectrum of rebels, ranging from disgruntled Kurds to radical Islamists with terrorist affiliations, have not let up, either. And also in the mix are Syrian’s Christians, many of whom fear Islamist rule under the rebels.

As the self-proclaimed police dog of the world, the United States offered to sink its teeth into the entire debacle, revealing two comprising American flaws. The first is hinged on morality, much of it derived from the American concept of being an international protector and a beacon of freedom and democracy. One of the U.S.’s most vocal arguments for its proposed military intervention in Syria focused on chemical weapons— responsibility for chemical weapons being, of course, grossly neglected during the Iran-Iraq War, during which the United States helped supply Saddam Hussein’s chemical arsenal.

The second flaw has manifested itself in the United States’ seemingly dwindling status. The United States remains a powerful and influential international actor, but its political strength in the Syrian conflict has been hampered by its struggle with pro-Assad Russia and other superpowers. Even Obama’s declaration to launch a military strike on Syria failed to garner the domestic and foreign support it needed.

Of course, this is merely a superficial glance as there are other pronounced and influential factors, including the United Nations’ entire stance on the matter and the role of Israel in the entire conflict. There is no expiration date on the prolonged conflict, but the rotten consequences of political and humanitarian misconduct, on behalf of the international community and the belligerents in the Syrian conflict, are inevitable. No matter the outcome of the conflict, we, as Americans, as humans, can only and yet must watch the events unfold in this startling installment of the documentary of the human condition—we are all on board, as onlookers, at least, as our ship plunges down the all-too-familiar Odyssean strait of Scylla and Charybdis.