"Finally, as increasingly desperate protesters call for help, there is a danger that the outside world will make matters worse as it plays at being savior. Calls for aid are somewhat worse than a pact with the devil: They entail pacts with many devils that do not agree on much. The Gulf monarchies, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, the US, Iran and others all see geostrategic stakes in the fate of the Asad regime. The greater their involvement, the less Syrians will remain in control of their destiny. Crying out for foreign intervention of any kind, to bring this emergency to an end at any cost, is more than understandable coming from ordinary citizens subjected to extreme forms of regime violence. Exiled opposition figures who pose as national leaders have no excuse for behaving likewise, when what is needed is a cool-headed, careful calibration of what type of outside “help” would do the minimum of harm."
“

—

Peter Harling, Sarah Birke for the Middle East Research and Information Project

3 days late, but I really wanted to wait and give this a deep read before posting. A must-read. This is the kind of analysis that is needed for Syria. Critical and pertinent. Contextualized and nuanced. Read it!

(via sharquaouia)

(via sharquaouia)


Notes
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