Ronald S. Lauder, former U.S. ambassador to Austria, believes the euphoria that surrounded the Arab Spring involving true democratic reforms, while motivated by wishful thinking, "overlooked the power realities actually shaping events." As realities in Syria continue to be shaped by the burgeoning conflict, Lauder called the government of President Bashar al-Assad a "criminal regime is clinging to power by any means." While Lauder feels Assad's fall from power is inevitable, he warned that a “Syrian Spring will ...

On Tuesday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing to examine the systemic and grave human rights abuses by the Syrian government, and the impact of those abuses on the Syrian people. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) chaired the hearing. Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) gave opening remarks. Panel one featured Ambassador Robert Ford as the witness, and Panel two featured Maria McFarland, deputy Washington ...

Syria’s opposition factions are gathering today in Turkey in an effort to unite before the “Friends of Syria” summit takes place April 2. Internal bickering has shaken the Syrian National Council (SNC), which has seen an increasing amount of defections and criticism for its opaque handling of funds. Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy claims that the Syrian opposition, due to its sectarian diversity, doesn’t “tend ...

On Friday, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University hosted the second day of its annual symposium, “The People want the fall of the Regime: The Arab Uprisings and the future of Arab Politics.” The second panel discussed “Yemen, Syria, and the Gulf States,” featuring presentations from Stacey Philbrick Yadav, director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Bassam Haddad, Director of the ...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said a Security Council statement to the Syrian government sent a "clear" and "unmistakable" message to end its crackdown on protesters after the Security Council agreed on backing U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s proposed six-point peace plan. Annan is expected to travel to Russia to discuss his efforts to mediate a cease-fire. In the midst of calls for a cease-fire, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Syrian troops ...

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council put aside its differences, agreeing on a draft resolution that demands Syria immediately implement Kofi Annan’s proposed six-point plan. The statement from the president, which carries less weight than an official resolution, gave a “veiled warning of future international action.” The Security Council statement urged the Syrian government and opposition to work in good faith with Annan towards a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis and to implement ...

The German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, published a report entitled the “Violent Power Struggle in Syria." The report analyzes four possible scenarios and policy options for the international community; which include, regime survival, implosion, full-blown civil war, and military intervention. In the first scenario, the violent tactics of the regime eventually take its toll on the opposition who choose life over continuing oppression. The second, military ...

On Tuesday, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted members of the U.N. Human Rights independent international Commission of Inquiry for Syria to discuss the findings of their recently released report. Paulo Pinhiero, the chairman of the commission, along with commissioners Yakin Erturk and Karen AbuZayd provided an overview of their investigation and described the current human rights situation in Syria. Senior Brookings Fellow Ted Piccone, deputy ...