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The Damascus Arab Summit: Arab Divisions Ensure Modest Achievements

[Washington Institute for Near East Policy] David Schenker - For many Arab states, Lebanon represents a debate about regional trends - in particular Tehran's growing role in Arab politics, a trend that threatens the long-term stability of "moderate" Arab regimes ostensibly aligned with the West. As such, Syria's profoundly unproductive role in Lebanon and its increasingly close ties with Iran provided the underlying context of last week's Arab League meeting. Damascus had hoped that a successful summit would prove to be another nail in the coffin of U.S.-led efforts to isolate and pressure the Assad regime into changing its behavior. Contrary to Syria's wishes, however, the effective Arab boycott of the summit suggests that many Arab capitals - like Washington - are not ready to accept the re-integration of an Iranian-aligned Damascus into the Arab fold.
2008-04-03 01:00:00
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