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May 2013
Despite horrific repression, the U.S. should stay out of Syria
By Stephen Zunes: The worsening violence and repression in Syria has left policymakers scrambling to think of ways the United States could help end the bloodshed and support those seeking to dislodge the Assad regime. The desperate desire to “do something” has led to increasing calls for the United States to provide military aid to armed insurgents or even engage in direct military intervention, especially in light of the possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. The question on the mind of almost everyone who has followed the horror as it has unfolded over the past two years is, “What we can do?” Read More
Pakistan elections do not augur well for President Zardari
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: May 11 elections have drastically changed the political map of Pakistan. At least three surprises sprung from the election result which will have grave repercussions for the political spectrum. The former ruling party, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was confined to the province Sindh. The Awami National Party was demolished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah. President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the co-chairman of the PPP, will not get a second term in office. The PML-N sweeps across Punjab (the most populated province of Pakistan), has ensured that Mian Nawaz Sharif will not need any coalition partners, except for the sake of keeping a federal face by including some PML-Functional, Jamaat-e-Islami and JUI-F men in his cabinet. Read More
Israel, Syria and the United States
By Stephen Zunes: A billboard of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Baalbak, Lebanon, Jan. 22, 2013. (Photo: Lynsey Addario / The New York Times) To whatever extent the Israeli May 6 attack on Syria may have inflicted material damage on the regime's war-making capability, it has allowed an untimely political victory for that brutal and besieged regime. Though Israel's devastating bombing raid may have been focused on missiles or other military hardware bound for the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, the attack will just feed into President Bachar al-Assad's narrative that his secular nationalist government is not fighting a popular rebellion but is instead the victim of an international conspiracy of conservative Arab monarchies, radical Islamists, Western powers and now Israel. Read More
Syria: U.S. involvement could make things even worse
Stephen Zunes: The worsening violence and repression in Syria has left policymakers scrambling to think of ways our governments could help end the bloodshed and support those seeking to dislodge the Assad regime. The desperate desire to "do something" has led to increasing calls for the United States to provide military aid to armed insurgents or even engage in direct military intervention, especially in light of the possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. The question on the mind of almost everyone who has followed the horror as it has unfolded over the past two years is, "What we can do?" The short answer, unfortunately, is not much. Read More
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