Epstein Secrets

about American intentions could have aided the Syrian rebellion, the Pentagon and State Department went out of their way to reassure the despot in Damascus that there was nothing to worry about in Washington. No wonder the suspicion has grown that the Obama administration is content to see Assad ride o

d. Shater's entry into the Presidential race just introduces one more wild card into this loaded deck. At least Egyptian politics won't be boring. Marc Lynch is associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. The Daily-News Egypt Al-Shater nomination s

of sanctions and warmongering. To be sure, the earlier sensible effort to have friendly relations with Syria backfired, but not until the regime in Damascus started the massive shooting of its citizens and refused to meet the demands of its people for far reaching reforms. Arguably, the same reversal of

rs to plan for a post-Taliban Afghanistan? And does this mean revisiting Russia's offer to broker talks between Assad loyalists and the opposition? Marc Lynch has argued that "more could be done to plan for a post-Assad future and to communicate to terrified Syrians sitting on the fence that they have a p

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

mic state. Sobriety militates against such final or definitive conclusions, however. Indeed, George Washington University Arab-politics specialist Marc Lynch offered a sage tweet-length rule of thumb for analyzing Egyptian political developments: "It's never as bad as its seems on Twitter." Power in Egy