Syria

Some Real Heroes: Syria’s Humanitarian Martyrs

By Barry Rubin March 4, 2012

Let us pause from the frantic pursuit of headlines and fascination at the latest novelty to acknowledge some real heroes. Not the self-publicizing Western intellectuals, academics and artists who preen as they echo every dominant fashion; not the Middle Eastern extremists, praised for terrorist acts or dreaming of bloodbaths and the creation of tyrannical regimes. I refer to those Syrian opposition activists engaged in rescuing the wounded and bringing in food and medical supplies to besieged … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Regional Security, Syria

Report from Behind the Lines in Syria: An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Spyer

By Barry Rubin February 17, 2012

Dr. Jonathan Spyer, GLORIA Center senior fellow, has just returned from Syria where he met with oppositionists, members of the Free Syrian Army, and local inhabitants. Here’s his first interview on his experiences and observations. Barry Rubin: Dr. Spyer, please tell us about your visit to Syria, what you saw and your impressions. Jonathan Spyer: Well, I spent a week in Idleb province, traveling between a number of different towns. The most striking aspect was the extent … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Regional Security, Syria

What to Do About Syria

By Barry Rubin February 15, 2012

There is a strong case that can be made for doing nothing about the Syrian civil war, but a stronger case can be made for doing something relatively low-cost and ineffective, indeed, precisely what the Syrian opposition is requesting. Forget about major military intervention, which would be dangerous, costly, and above the level of available resources. I’m also not enthusiastic about a major U.S. effort at regime change, since the Turkish regime wants an Islamist government in Damascus … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Regional Security, Syria, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

Arab World: Taking Center Stage

By Jonathan Spyer February 5, 2012

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The diplomatic route to change in Syria is firmly blocked. Russia, for its own reasons, is refusing and will continue to refuse to allow any resolution promising serious action against the regime of President Bashar Assad to pass in the United Nations Security Council. The US, as was made clear by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks this week, will do all it can to avoid embroilment in a new Middle Eastern war. The status of 2012 as a presidential election year will serve … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Regional, Syria

Why Syria’s Regime Is Surviving a Revolution

By Barry Rubin January 30, 2012

Despite what is now the longest-running revolution in Middle Eastern history, the Syrian regime will probably be in power on December 31, 2012. I don’t say that because it’s what I want to happen — Syria’s revolution is more democratic-minded than those in Libya or Egypt; the government is far more repressive than the former dictatorships in Tunisia or Egypt — but because it seems inevitable. Why is it that, after so many months of massive demonstrations and really bloody … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Syria

Arabism Is Dead! Long Live…?

By Barry Rubin January 20, 2012

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An editorial in the moderate Lebanese publication, Lebanon Now, reminds us of just how dramatically the Middle East has changed. Many of the arguments and assumptions that governed the Arabic-speaking world for six decades have simply vanished. Others, though, have just been modified slightly. The biggest change has been the collapse of Arab nationalism, the ideology and system that governed many countries, controlled the regional debate, and intimidated everyone else into line for six … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Regional, Syria

Hizballah Backs Assad – and Pays The Price

By Jonathan Spyer January 20, 2012

In early January, 2011, Hizballah and its allies took up the reins of government in Lebanon, having ensured the collapse of the coalition led by March 14 leader and then Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Hizballah needed a coalition which it thought would staunchly oppose the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, investigating the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. But many at the time discerned a more significant meaning in the rise to government of the March 8 coalition. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Radical Movements, Syria

Syria: A Word of Caution

By Jonathan Spyer January 2, 2012

Defense Minister Ehud Barak was reported as predicting that the regime of Bashar Assad would fall within weeks. Certainly things are not going well for the Assad family dictatorship. The bloodletting continues as the Free Syrian Army and other insurgent groups continue to strike at government forces. Economic sanctions endorsed by the Arab League are to take effect December 27. The economy is expected to sharply contract in the year ahead, in the wake of EU sanctions already in place and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East Politics, Syria

Syria: The Forgotten–Including by the Obama Administration–Revolution

By Barry Rubin December 19, 2011

I feel guilty every day that I don’t write about Syria’s revolution. There are massive numbers of demonstrators taking high risks and often paying with their lives; there is a higher proportion of really democratic-minded people than in other Arab countries; and there is general international indifference to their battle in contrast to the “glamor” surrounding the far-shorter, much less bloody Egyptian uprising. The estimated death toll is over 4000 though, of course, nobody knows for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Syria, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

Word of Caution On Assad’s Fall ‎

By Jonathan Spyer December 18, 2011

Defense Minister Ehud Barak was reported this week as predicting that the regime of Bashar Assad would fall within weeks. Certainly things are not going well for the Assad family dictatorship. The bloodletting continues as the Free Syrian Army and other insurgent groups continue to strike at government forces. Economic sanctions endorsed by the Arab League are to take effect December 27. The economy is expected to sharply contract in the year ahead, in the wake of EU sanctions already in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iraq, Middle East Politics, Syria