Qifa Nabki
Bashar al-Assad
Some Post-Summit Thoughts
The Lebanese media is caught up in a frenzy trying to parse the results of yesterday’s summit in Beirut. A few observations are in order. The little information that has trickled out of the closed-door meetings held in Damascus and Beirut seems to suggest that the point of King Abdullah’s visit was both to instill … Continue reading
What To Read on the Arab Mini-Summit in Beirut
I’ll be updating this thread with links to commentaries on the visit of King Abdullah and President Assad to Beirut. Nick Noe argues that Hizbullah is not afraid of the indictments harming its relations with Syria or leading to a Sunni-Shiite civil war in Lebanon, but rather that it harms the resistance brand. Sami Moubayed … Continue reading
Syrians and Saudis on the Same Page?
Beirut will host a rare summit of regional leaders this weekend–all the more remarkable for having been organized on very short notice. There are reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be joined by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Erdogan and Ahmadinejad are apparently planning visits as … Continue reading
Israel, Syria, and Lebanon: Thinking Outside the Box
Maybe you all can help me understand an idea that I’ve repeatedly encountered among various neoconservative Mideast watchers, with regard to the question of whether or not to engage Syria. In a nutshell, the idea is that the best way for Washington to get what it wants–namely a Syrian regime that doesn’t threaten American or … Continue reading
Assad Chooses Iran Over Golan?
The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has turned down an offer from Israeli President Shimon Peres, according to which Israel would return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for a severing of ties between Syria and its allies in the Axis of Resistance (Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc.) The story in … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…