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How the Syrian Regime Is Ensuring Its Demise
(Washington Post) Peter Harling and Robert Malley - Desperate to survive at all costs, Bashar al-Assad's regime instead appears intent on digging its own grave. It didn't have to be this way. The protest movement is strong and getting stronger but has yet to reach critical mass. Many Syrians dread the prospect of chaos and their nation's fragmentation. But the regime is behaving like its own worst enemy, cutting itself off from key pillars of support: its social base among the poor, Syria's silent majority and possibly even its security forces. Peter Harling is the International Crisis Group's project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Robert Malley is program director of the ICG's Middle East and North Africa program.