Epstein Secrets

erations, waves of democracy had swept over other regions, from southern and EFTA_R1_00234067 EFTA01845121 eastern Europe to Latin America, from East Asia to Africa. But not the Middle East. There, tyrants had closed up the political world, become owners of their countries in all but name. It was a b

insula and before it slipped out of the hands of the Arabs into those of the Persians and the Turks. Yet decades earlier, Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez -- a man of supreme cunning and political skill -- had ridden the military and the Baath Party to absolute power, creating a regime in which power

.S., Britain, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and Nor=h Korea. More will likely emerge. The author presents detailed case studies on East Asia, South Asia and the =iddle East to bolster his argument that the multipolar nuclear world is al=eady changing the military strategies of regional po

ls against Mr. Assad's Al=wite sect and Syria's other religious minorities is growing every day. Following the rise to power of Mr. Assad's father, Hafez, in 1970, Alawit=s were transformed from a persecuted minority sect to the controlling forc= within the army and government. With a system of perks

n the South China Sea and generally unnerving most of the region, the Obama administration has reconfirmed the central role of the United States in East Asia. The opening of a new base in Australia is a powerful symbol of America's enduring strategic presence in the region. The opening with Burma obvious

ck 2. The Daily Beast Syria: The Lost Bequest of Hafez Assad Fouad Ajami January 23, 2012 -- Bashar, son of Hafez Assad, has a son by the name of Hafez. But as the defiance and bloodletting in £yria would seem to suggest, Bashar needn't worry about training his son for future rulership. The house t