When British and French diplomats sat down to draw the boundaries of the modern Middle East, one country required no ruler …
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As Bashar Assad Shows His Defiance, Syria Nears Its Existential Cliff
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 …
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 …
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
Despite Syria’s Bloodbath, Libya-Style Intervention Remains Unlikely
Besides growing reservations about the dynamic on the ground in Syria, last week’s killings at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi have raised new questions about Libya as a model for intervention
Why Syria and the World Will Miss Kofi Annan’s Peace Plan
The former U.N. Secretary-General embarked on a mission that was bound to fail. But its end is unlikely to help Syria avert a chaotic bloodbath
Syrian Paradox: The Regime Gets Stronger, Even as It Loses Its Grip
As the regime’s ability to govern Syria declines, it is being transformed into a powerful militia that has little incentive to compromise
Russia Sets Out Tough Terms for Resolving Syria’s ‘Civil War’
By sending Assad gunships and insisting Iran be included in talks, Moscow is signaling a changed geopolitical balance
Why the U.S. Won’t Give Up on Kofi Annan’s Syria Plan
Senator John McCain may be cranking up the political heat on the Obama Administration over Syria amid reports of a new massacre at Hama, but don’t expect Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to berate Kofi Annan over the failure …
Syria: Is This an Arab Spring or a Balkan Winter?
Special envoy Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that his struggling peace plan is the last hope to prevent Syria from plunging into an all-out civil war. But the reason his cease-fire and political-dialogue …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 3, 2012
Dependent Dissident – As Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng undergoes medical procedures at a Beijing hospital after leaving his refuge at the U.S. Embassy in China, the Washington Post poses questions about the deal brokered …