A friend of mine has put together this “mock interview” based on a number of public and private talks that I have been recently giving in a number of think tanks and institutions. It does a pretty good job in summarizing where I stand these days on the issue of regime change in Syria. Continue reading “Mock Interview!”
Year: 2005
Managing Evil!
The dilemmas we often have to face in life are less about making a choice between good and evil or right and wrong, than they are about attempting to identify which is the lesser evil. Indeed, managing various sorts of evil in the hope of slowly inching our way towards what is good – this is really what life is all about, most of the time.
Coming to terms with this, however, even when you are about to turn forty, is still very hard to do. Being a heretic does not make it any easier.
Time for the Big Names!
In this particular time when the Syrian regime looks like it is having a field day of activities and demonstrations coming out in its support, one of the worst things that could happen to it and which could come as a slap in the face that could help so many people snap out of their fear-induced coma, is for a group of well-known Syrian artists, including actors, singers and painters to come out and say: enough is enough. We won’t stand idle while our country is being led to an abyss. We won’t let our leaders put their particularistic interests above the national interests.
A Fund for Syria!
The issue of foreign funding of civil society groups and opposition movements in Syria has always been problematic. Everybody is afraid of the stigma that this might bring. For this reason, the operations of independent civil organizations remain in the hands of volunteers and part-timers.
But, and while the role of such individuals in the management of civil institutions is always welcome and critical, civil institutions cannot be established and managed solely on this basis. Fulltime commitment is needed, and the attention of the civil activists should remain focused on the tasks at hand. Continue reading “A Fund for Syria!”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 