Trouble in the Neighborhood – Syrian Protests
On Independence Day, April 17, demonstrators in the northern port of Baniyas call for more freedom, one day after President Assad promised to lift emergency laws. (Reuters)
Senior Advisor for the US-Syria Program at Search for Common Ground, Thomas Dine was featured in an Inter Press Service Article, Friends or Foes, Syria’s Neighbours Wary of Assad’s Ouster Analysis. The article suggests that Syria’s instability has already impacted Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf as well as the future of the region.
Reflecting on the recent attacks directed at demonstrators in Syria, Dine explains his concerns about Syrian relations with both Israel and Iran.
Thomas Dine, who has been in charge of Track II talks between the U.S. and Syria for Search for Common Ground, a U.S. non-profit that tries to resolve conflicts, predicted continuity in Syrian foreign policy toward Lebanon and the Golan Heights but question marks over Israel and Iran. “The Iranians have to be more concerned than the Israelis since the good deal they have had with Syria may not last,” he said.
Analysts believe that the current protestors are too widespread to be entirely eliminated. However, outbursts of violence may also continue.
A regime change in Syria would “have major foreign policy implications,” and the Obama administration has escalated its rhetoric against the Syrian crackdown but has not called for Assad to step down as the U.S. has done with the leaders of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. On Monday, the White House said it was considering new sanctions on individual Syrian human rights abusers.
Read the rest of the article here.
