Beirut Spring

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Remember that politics move quickly, and people and their opinions evolve.

“a clarifying moment” In the Syrian Conflict

February 7, 2012 · Mustapha Hamoui

Randa Slim on what the Chinese and Russian vetoes mean:

The Syrian conflict is no longer just about a brutal dictator repressing peaceful protesters […] The Syrian revolution is now the fault line in Middle Eastern politics, through which U.S.-Russian competition, the U.S.-Iran conflict, the Iran-Saudi regional rivalry, and the Shiite-Sunni ages-old conflict will play out.

Remember when Lebanon was that fault line? Marc Lynch is now calling Syria “Lebanon on steroids”, but to me the larger question is: Are we in the Levant destined to choose between being under a dictatorship or being the playing field of meddling foreign powers?