Here is video of a demonstration today in Damascus. It cheered me up a bit:
I spent August 2008 in Damascus studying Arabic at the university. No political activity back then, but the discontent of the general population was easy to find. You just needed to talk to someone. They were not prepared to express unhappiness with the President but enjoyed telling even a foreigner how much they disliked the people around him. They also wanted peace with Israel, better relations with the U.S. and a lot of foreign investment, all of which they viewed as part of a necessary, maybe regrettable, package.
And here is French philosopher Henri Bernard Levy with a strikingly graphic metaphor for the relationship between European governments and dictators in the Middle East. Best not to play this one while the boss is around:
It is going to be hard to beat that for political comment of the day.
President Vucic is getting a boost. Transactions are on the agenda. Democracy, rule of law,…
The US will try to get Serbia aligned with US objectives. Serbia will offer half…
If even a handful of retiring Republicans announce that they will caucus with the Democrats,…
The lesson is that powerful states should hesitate to attack less powerful ones, who will…
With NATO and EU membership, Kosovo won't care much about UN membership, which can't happen…
No, America is no longer the America Europeans, including Kosovars, want it to be. And…