Epstein Secrets

more polarised. A growing number want to see the end of the regime; many still cling to it as better than an uncertain alternative, particularly in Damascus. The middle ground has been shrinking. The result has been an apparent stalemate. Protesters gain ground but have yet to cross the crucial threshol

ated that these revolutions were externally instigated by states who covet Central Asian resources, though he would not specifically identify them. Tajikistan's President, Emomali Rahmon, told his Parliament on April 20, 2011: Much has been said and written about the possibility of the repetition of such

ants to topple the pro-Iranian al Assad does not mean it would be pleased with an EFTA00712375 extended situation in which nobody is in charge in Damascus. The Israeli viewpoint is similar. The Shiite government in Iraq fears Sunni terrorists being given free rein in the Syrian border area. As for the

et state collapsed, it led to a rash of ethnic and regional wars across the Caucasus and Central Asia -- tens of thousands of people were killed in Tajikistan alone -- while in Yugoslavia, ethnic war resulted in 140,000 lost lives. Remember that the dynastic regime of the al Assads in Syria was built on a

ding joint cabinet meetings and talking about spearheading a common market in the Middle East. Then the Arab wave EFTA00713328 of reforms reached Damascus. The relationship turned hostile as the Syrian leadership resisted reforms and engaged in large-scale massacres to subdue the opposition. With the

overnment's first moves after it began shooting protesters, for example, was to expel all foreign journalists. Several weeks ago, the government of Tajikistan blocked YouTube and reportedly shut down communications networks in a remote region where government forces were battling an opposition group. The

76. It was not a warm relationship, but it was predictable, particularly in the 1990s: Israel allowed Syria a free hand in Lebanon in exchange for Damascus limiting Hezbollah's actions. Lebanon was not exactly stable, but its instability hewed to a predictable framework. That understanding broke down w

security concern, but saw yet more U.S. troops massed now on its western border. With U.S. forces also in the CIS republics, notably Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Iran has been encircled by the USA on its own continent. A bitter joke has made the rounds in Tehran for some years now: "there are just two count