The Dictator of Damascus - By David Lesch | Foreign Policy

Great article in Foreign Policy about Syria and President Assad from someone who has little political stake, is not polemical and who actually knows what he is talking about based off of extensive scholarship and research:

The "conceptual gap" between Syria and the West has only widened during the revolt. When Assad delivered his first speech to the nation on March 30, 2011, he said that Syria was facing a "huge conspiracy," directed by a highly organized network of the country's foreign enemies. Most of those outside Syria scoffed: He was blatantly diverting attention from the real socioeconomic and political problems that had brought the Arab Spring to Syria. But many Syrians -- maybe even Assad himself -- readily believe such claims. Their perception of the nature of threat is vastly different from ours. One might blame this on Syrian paranoia bred by imperialist conspiracies of the past, on the Arab-Israeli conflict, or on regime brainwashing to justify the security state. But it is, in large measure, a function of living in a dangerous neighborhood where real threats are indeed often just around the corner.

The Dictator of Damascus - By David Lesch | Foreign Policy