Syria Feature: The Tour Guide Who Joined the Insurgency (Barnard)

A Camel Rider in PalmyraTo the tourists he took on sunset camel rides, Abu Zeid seemed like the freest man on earth.

He was a young Bedouin who worked with his camel, Casanova, among the ruins of ancient Palmyra, in the Syrian desert. He spent his days roaming Palmyra’s bare hills and stone colonnades, and his nights chatting online with foreign friends. In recent years, his biggest complaint with the government was that the police demanded bribes.

So his friends were astonished when he told them that he had joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Click to read more ...

Lebanon Feature: Is Hezbollah's Syria Policy A Regional and Domestic Mistake? (Barnard)

Lebanese man with poster of Hezbollah's Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah and Syrian President Assad, 11 January 2012 (Photo: Louai Beshahra/AFP)

---

Though Hezbollah’s base in Lebanon remains strong, it runs an increasing risk of finding itself isolated, possibly caught up in a sectarian war between its patron, Iran, the region’s Shiite power, and Saudi Arabia, a protector of Sunni interests in the Middle East. Its longtime ally, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, has distanced itself from the Assad government, moving its headquarters out of Damascus, and Sunni revolutionaries in Syria have explicitly denounced Hezbollah as an enemy. At home, its Lebanese rivals sense a rare opportunity to erode its power.

Click to read more ...