The hunt for ‘plan B’ – planning for ‘the day after’ in Syria

A mention in CNN Security Blog:

Syrian activist Ammar Abdulhamid, a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, is trying to bridge the gap between the exiles and those Syrians on the ground. He’s bringing together small groups of Syrian experts to brainstorm ideas for a transition, which he is feeding to opposition groups on the ground in Syria who the United States is now trying to reach. “We don’t have a political agenda and aren’t tabling a plan,” Abdulhamid said. “This is to raise public awareness and highlight the issues we are going to be facing once Assad falls. There needs to be a public debate and we want to empower Syrians to do that.”

فيسبوك: 31 آذار، 2012

– الخيار الحقيقي الماثل أمامنا الآن ليس خياراً ما بين المقاومة السلمية أو المقاومة المسلحة بل ما بين التنظيم والارتجال، ما بين الالتزام بمبادئ إنسانية معينة أو الانجرار وارء أساليب النظام نفسها.

No Dialogue With Assad

The New York Times: Room For Debate

In calling for dialogue with Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, the United Nations Security Council is missing a key point: After killing more than 8,000 civilians, Assad and fellow corrupt authoritarian elites have made it abundantly clear that they will stay in power at any cost, and no international agreement can restore them to domestic legitimacy. Continue reading “No Dialogue With Assad”

Launching the Freedom Collection

On March 28, 2012, I was invited to Dallas, Texas, again to take part in the official launching of the Freedom Collection, an “effort to document the struggle for human freedom and democracy around the world, which presents “a central feature of the Human Freedom initiative at the George W. Bush Institute.” During the event, I, alongside a number of colleagues from around the world, were given a special recognition by Mr. an Mrs. Bush for our efforts to highlight the cause of our people, and were told that we will be among the first to be interviewed for the Freedom Collection.  Continue reading “Launching the Freedom Collection”