Epstein Secrets

ther bureaucracies, and thus had no legitimacy. Marcus Aurelius was one thing; Tunisia's Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al- Assad, quite another. Certainly, the Arab Spring has proved much: that there is no otherness to Arab civilization, that Arabs yearn for univers

r supply have diminished. There are three reasons. First, the most substantial fallout from the Arab world's recent upheaval is behind us. Syria's Bashar al-Assad continues to fight for survival and Yemen continues to flirt with failed-state status, but the Gulf's major oil-producing states are quite stable.

cracies, and thus had no legitimacy. Marcus Aurelius was one thing; Tunisia's Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al- Assad, quite another. Certainly, the Arab Spring has proved much: that there is no otherness to Arab civilization, that Arabs yearn for universal values

comfortable. Fundamentally Mill, Berlin and many other Western philosophical theorists and political scientists-from Thomas Paine and John Locke to Francis Fukuyama of late—hold that people will eventually wish to wrest themselves from the shackles of repressive rule. That the innate human desire for free will

r el-Qaddafi. It's true. But what an ally! What a thing to regret! And, now, the more Putin throws his support behind the murderous dictatorship of Bashar al- Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round- trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a de

i. It's true. But what an ally! What a thing to regret! And, now, the more Putin throws his support behind the murderous dictatorship of Bashar al- Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round- trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a dead man wal

kolas Gvosdev 03 Feb 2012 -- Now that the United States, France and other Western powers have endorsed the Arab League's call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down -- even if that formulation is ultimately edited out of the final draft of the resolution pending before the U.N. Security Council --

olas Gvosdev The Diplomat EFTA_R1_00228262 EFTA01841726 Beijing's South China Sea Gamble Will Rogers Article 7. NYT Books One Man's History Francis Fukuyama Article I. NYT Russia: Sort of, but Not Really Thomas L. Friedman February 4, 2012 — Moscow -- AS a journalist, the best part of covering the r

ikolas Gvosdcv 03 Feb 2012 -- Now that the United States, France and other Western powers have endorsed the Arab League's call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down -- even if that formulation is ultimately edited out of the final draft of the resolution pending before the •. Security Council -- it

ship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round-trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a dead man walking. Even if all you care about are arms sales, wouldn't Russia want to align itself with the emerging forces in Syria? "There i

Day After' in Syria Nikolas Gvosdev Article 6. The Diplomat Beijing's South China Sea Gamble Will Rogers Arti01e7 NYT Books One Man's History Francis Fukuyama Ankle I. NYT Russia: Sort of, but Not Really Thomas L. Friedman EFTA00660746 February 4, 2012 — Moscow -- AS a journalist, the best part of c

wish to exclude actual or potentially unfriendly powers such as Iran, Russia and China from the region. The mullahs hope to delay the fall of the Assad regime so that they have more time to confirm their foothold in southern Iraq, their second hope. Emboldened by the victory of their Syrian brethr

to Hizbollah (Damascus's strong ally), said the rift between Qatar and the Syrian regime occurred when Doha attempted to convince Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to form an interim ruling council including Muslim Brotherhood representation. The fourth factor helpful in understanding the Qatar- Brotherhood al

efforts to sum up the emerging strategic environment almost always enjoy an abbreviated shelf life. Kagan himself pokes fun at rivals, singling out Francis Fukuyama, Paul Kennedy, and especially Fareed Zakaria, who have in recent years presumed to decipher the course of history and establish whether the United

lims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect o

A government spokeswoman has hinted that coming reforms will include greater freedom for the press and the right to form political parties. President Bashar al-Assad is due to address the country in the next 48 hours. His speech is eagerly awaited, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to defuse the

llenged the fundamentals of Syria's security state, a harsh system of controls over every aspect of society, put in place by the late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who ruled for 30 years from 1970 to his death in 2000. By all accounts, the debate HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030032 --- PAGE BREAK --- 4 about how

es been far from neutral, favoring one community over another in cynical power plays. Many Sunni Muslims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect of Shiite Islam, who constitute some 12 percent of the population but control a vastly greater percen

e terrifying scale of Libya's Qaddafi and Syria's Assad nor stifled economic progress with such alacrity.

other bureaucracies, and thus had no legitimacy. Marcus Aurelius was one thing; Tunisia's Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al- Assad, quite another. Certainly, the Arab Spring has proved much: that there is no otherness to Arab civilization, that Arabs yearn for universal values ju

he state together. To be sure, Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali neither ran police states on the terrifying scale of Libya's Qaddafi and Syria's Assad nor stifled economic progress with such alacrity. But while Mubarak and Ben Ali left their countries in conditions suitable for the emergence of stab

l Spindle and Margaret Coker Article 2. The New York Post The storm in Syria Amir Taheri Anicle 3! The American Interest Political Order in Egypt Francis Fukuyama Article 4. NYT The Budget Debate, Revealed Richard W. Stevenson Article 1. Wall Street Journal The New Cold War Bill Spindle and Margaret Coker

-- Article 2. The New York Post The storm in Syria Amir Taheri April 16, 2011 -- Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of what Syrian despot Ba shar al-Assad had dubbed "social calm"; he hoped his mixture of promises and repressive measures would silence the pro-democracy uprising that has shaken the Ba'at

t regime. Instead, the opposition mounted a "Friday of Resolution," with fresh nationwide marches against tyranny. In addition to other empty moves, Assad had ordered the release of protesters arrested in the past four weeks provided they had not done "anything that might undermine the interests of the

n Interest The Conservative Revolutionary Walter Russell Mead Article 5 NYT Iran Without Nukes Roger Cohen Article 6 NATIONAL REVIEW Interview with - Francis Fukuyama Matthew Shaffer Article 7. Project Syndicate Does Anything Matter? Peter Singer HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031876 --- PAGE BREAK --- 2 Article 1. The Washingt

Bush's support of Middle Eastern democracy and cultivate our relations with regional despots like Hosni Mubarak, the Iranian mullahs and the younger Assad have been sent back to the benches in disgrace. Their counsel is now seen as both morally dubious and pragmatically unwise; the 'realists' would have