Syria is still ablaze and the West seems unable to do douse the flames. And the risk of
the Assad regime committing even greater violence will increase when the world’s media moves on.
The reasons for Western impotence are manifold. First, for a long time Western leaders thought they could reason with Assad and therefore shied away from direct pressure. When they decided to act, they discovered that Assad is immune to European pressure because Syria does little trade with Europe.
But, crucially, many Syrians are either loyal to the regime or fear triggering disintegration of the sort they have seen in neighbouring Lebanon and Iran. Finally, unlike Libya, the Syrian regime is not hated by fellow Arab states. Many Arab governments distrust Assad and would not mind seeing the back of him, but they won’t exert themselves in the process.
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