Hudson Institute Event More than a month after protests erupted in the small southern city of Deraa, the Syrian Revolution is gathering steam. Friday after Friday, the opposition movement has taken to the streets of every major Syrian city to demonstrate against one of the more ruthless regimes in the Middle East. A long-time sponsor of terror and ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Damascus facilitated the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq to attack U.S. troops and Iraqi allies, while it also targeted U.S. allies in Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. Presumably, the fall of the Assad regime would constitute a net gain for American interests in the Middle East. Hudson Institute was pleased to host a panel discussion of the current events, the opposition’s chances, and the future of Syria. Panelists included Ammar Abdulhamid, Founder and Director of the Tharwa Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to democracy promotion in the Greater Middle East and North Africa region; Hanin Ghadar, Managing Editor of NOW Lebanon, the leading English (and Arabic) language news and culture web publication covering Lebanon and Syria; and Lee Smith, Hudson Institute Visiting Fellow. Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World Hillel Fradkin moderated the panel.
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 