“The Dictator Who Cannot Dictate”

James Denselow:

Focusing on whether or not Assad is a reformer is increasingly irrelevant. Syria has been shown to possess a paper dictator […] To better understand the mechanics of the Syrian regime, people must go beyond the figurehead to examine the nexus of power at the heart of the Damascene court — an opaque and complex palatial mafia whose lesser known characters wield inordinate amounts of power.

So now the question is no longer: Is Bashar calling the shots? (and some do believe that he is). The question has become: Does this even matter?