Turning a blind eye to human rights violations and despotism is not just morally questionable, its not in the national interest.
The implications of the Arab Spring on surviving regional powers has been overshadowed by geopolitical and geostrategic interests. Bahrain exemplifies this quagmire.
Chinese officials appear consistent in supporting a peaceful transition and a political outlet in Syria. China may be passing the test of ascending to international leadership.
The claim that Al Qaeda is responsible for Syrian massacres is outlandish. Yet, terrorists were responsible, in the form of Shabiha militants, at the command of the Syrian regime.
Absent the circumstances that facilitated the transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Iraq, the prospects in Syria appear to be extremely poor.
Achieving an effective international consensus to stop the killing in Syria has little to do with semantics. It has much more to do with the squandered legacy of the Responsibility to Protect.
The high expectations that accompanied Hosni Mubarak’s resignation last year have not come to pass. Egypt’s current Presidential election will be critical in determining whether Cairo’s future will bring democracy or merely democratic window-dressing.
The UN mandate to achieve a political solution that will afford Western Sahara its long denied right to self-determination is a farce and everyone knows it.
Syria is different to all other countries hit by the Arab Spring. The international community’s main security concern should be the fate of Syrian WMDs.
Just as intervening in Afghanistan and Iraq did not lead the United States to victory, neither will withdrawing from these countries. Although the U.S. is likely to endure negative consequences from its disengagement, withdrawal need not mean defeat.
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