Syria Sans Assad

Less than a year ago, when the first tremulous shoots of the Arab Spring were pushing through North African clay, practically every political analyst and commentator agreed that whatever was growing in Tunisia and Egypt would not—could not—take root in Syria. Political society was too closed, they said, and President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime would be sheltered from the fervour of regional popular protests by a robust authoritarian system. Nevertheless, today the widely held view is ...

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The Lion Versus The Pen

While the violent crisis in Syria has taken a backseat this week to the dramatic events in Libya, the bloody uprising continues to claim casualties. One victim in particular has brought the Syria story front and center again: Ali Ferzat, arguably one of the most well known and revered political cartoonists of the Arab world was found in Damascus on Wednesday, badly beaten. Witnesses claim that outside of the Umayyad Mosque in the early morning hours masked members of security forces loya...

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