(CNN) Fareed Zakaria - Earlier this year, I thought the Syrian regime would be able to persevere. It has been extraordinarily brutal and, unfortunately, if governments are willing to open fire on their people with utter disregard for human life, it often works. Syria is not an oil regime. It doesn't have that much cash. The UN sanctions are actually quite effective in cutting down trade. And Turkey is now going to impose its own sanctions on Syria, which will squeeze Assad even tighter. Assad leads a minority regime that has been able to stay in power by bribing key members of the Sunni elite in both the business community and the military. At the end of the day, that game becomes much more difficult to play once the money runs out. I now think this regime is going to collapse after all.
2011-12-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive