Sunday, February 19, 2012

I've just heard news that Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Damascus. That's quite an interesting development. It could signal the start of another series of measures against Assad's regime. Interestingly, I just heard on al Jazeera  a guest referring to the Gulf involvement with the Arab Spring because it recognised its "historic role". It's a blind man who would doubt that the Gulf, and in particular Saudi Arabia, are relishing the opportunity to topple the Syrian regime and weaken Iran's influence in the region. That doesn't mean that the Syrian revolution should fail. Far from it, it would be a good thing if Syrians were able to use this diplomatic tangle to topple Assad's dictatorship and squeeze a place for themselves that would allow a stronger, suppler, and more democratic country emerging.

This is not something new, Nasser used his non-aligned status to manipulate support from the Americans and the Soviets in a way that suited him. If Syrians can manage to steer their way between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and between the United States and Russia, to their advantage, then something very good can come out of all of this. In the short term this isn't going to help the situation, and there's going to be far more bloodshed.

1 comment:

نزار الفهد الملكي said...

To be frank the history of the United States took a similar turn: Subjects to the crown sought assistance from France against their English oppressors... but in the end France never gained significant influence over the US.

Conversely, Arabs sought independence from the Ottomans and were later betrayed by their "benefactors".

There is risk in any course, the key is not to fail to act because of fear of the risks, but rather to act while being fully conscience of the risks. Those who discuss only the risks but offer no solutions other than the maintenance of the status quo, seek only to dishearten against actions, due to alternative regional agendas other than the Democratization of Syria. It is well known that the only way for evil to prevail is for good men to watch and do nothing.