If the geological metaphor fashionable in Washington these days can be applied in Damascus, then Syria is moving perilously closer toward an existential cliff. President Bashar Assad on Sunday delivered a dramatic aria of …
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Syria’s Rising Death Toll: The Darkness Before the Dawn or Sign of a Grinding Stalemate?
At least 60,000 Syrians have been killed in the country’s civil war since March 2011, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay reported Wednesday. Despite that death toll, which Pillay described as “truly shocking,” U.N. envoy …
Assad’s Roll of the Dice: Is Winter Coming for the Syrian Rebellion?
President Bashar Assad knows his regime can’t win Syria’s civil war — his foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, admitted as much in an interview published last week by a sympathetic newspaper. But nor does he believe he’s about …
While U.S. Recognizes Syrian Opposition, It Designates One Anti-Assad Group as ‘Terrorist’
One of the most effective anti-Assad militias has just been designated a “terrorist” organization by the U.S. Will that help or hobble the exiled opposition’s attempt to take control of the fight against the regime in Damascus?
Is Syria’s Civil War Entering Its Final Act, or Poised for a New Phase?
The stern warnings by President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials this week that Syria‘s President Bashar Assad would face “consequences” and be “held accountable” for any use of chemical weapons against his own people, has …
Syria’s Opposition Wins Western Backing, But What About Western Weapons?
Syria‘s new opposition leadership structure announced in Qatar on Sunday could mark a turning point in the stalemated 20-month old rebellion against the Assad regime. But it could just as easily prove to be another chimerical …
Syria Opposition Factions Balk at U.S.-Backed Unity Plan, But Keep Talking
Can Foreign Intervention Forge a New Syrian Leadership?
The U.S. wants to reshape Syria’s opposition. But there is no guarantee the plan will work
Syria’s Cease-Fire: A Peace Process for Pessimists
Few expect that the four-day truce in Syria’s civil war scheduled to take effect Friday will hold, much less serve as the prelude to a more sustained peace process.
Is the Glass Half Full for Syria’s Assad?
He may no longer control huge swathes of Syrian territory, but his forces appear nowhere near collapse. Over the past 18 months, at least, the dictator has beaten the odds
After November: 5 Middle East Headaches That Await the U.S.
Last week’s U.N. General Assembly session served up reminders that the next White House may have little option but to deal with a number of crises previously deferred
Obama at the U.N.: Solid on Principles, Vague on Policy
The U.S. President’s address to the U.N. General Assembly raised more questions than it answered on the substantial foreign policy challenges in the Middle East
The U.N. General Assembly: 5 Political Potholes for Obama
Tricky relations with an emerging Arab public, Netanyahu’s shaming rhetoric and a growing China-Japan spat. What’s to love about the U.N. for a President whose appointment with his electorate is just weeks away?