Escaping Assad: Syrians Bring Tales of Gunfire and Defiance

The women and children waited until early morning of April 28 and then they fled in their hundreds. Most of the Syrians walked the few short kilometers from their hometown of Tall Kalakh, a cluster of low-slung cream-colored homes scattered on a gently sloping hill, toward the sleepy Lebanese village of Al-Boqia’a just across the river that demarcates the border, a two-hour drive north of Beirut

Share

Finding Niches in a New Land

“What country is this?” Many bemused Americans might ask that question as they go about their work and play. Whether shopping for vegetables among the hundreds of Korean-run greengroceries in Manhattan, or stopping for the night at one of the innumerable Indian-owned hotels in California, Americans are increasingly finding that entire businesses have acquired a foreign-born flavor.

Share

Syria: Who Is the Real President Assad?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s carefully cultivated image as a modest leader with reformist leanings, close to his people and understanding of their concerns, has taken a severe beating after a month of brutal security measures against a burgeoning civil protest movement for greater freedoms that has slowly stretched across the country. The tall, trim, blue-eyed father of three has responded to the uprising in his country, the greatest challenge to his 11-year rule, with a characteristic mix of soft and hard measures, promising reform while also unleashing his security forces on the streets to crush dissent

Share

Arming Libya’s Rebels: A Debate in Doha

Guns, money, oil, and an ex-spy chief slinking in the shadows: that’s what it came down to Wednesday in Qatar’s capital Doha when the NATO-led alliance marshaling air strikes on Libya gathered to defend its actions and brainstorm on how to help a ragtag rebel army finally dethrone Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. The coalition dismissed recent criticism and claims of inner discord with an early statement that the “international community remained united and firm in its resolve.” The same statement boasted that the alliance’s “efforts to date had exerted significant pressure on Gaddafi, protected civilians ..

Share