Syria’s foreign policy sits atop a mountain of apparent contradictions that have long bedeviled outsiders. Its self-proclaimed goal is peace with Israel, yet it has allied itself with partners vowed to Israel’s destruction. It takes pride in being a bastion of secularism even as it makes common cause with Islamist movements. It simultaneously has backed Iraqi Sunni insurgents and a Lebanese Shiite armed group. …
At the heart of the problem is a profound mismatch of expectations. The West wants to know whether Syria is ready to fundamentally alter its policies. … Syria, before contemplating any fundamental strategic shift, wants to know where the region and its most volatile conflicts are headed. …
From Syria’s vantage point, there is good reason to cling to the status quo. … But satisfaction with the past does not necessarily mean complacency about the future. On virtually all fronts, Syria can see peril. Its economy is wobbly. The country lacks significant natural resources or human capital. … Its infrastructure is obsolete. And unlike years past … Syria no longer can count on a foreign rent. All this, coming amid an increasingly competitive global market and financial crisis, calls for structural reforms that the regime almost certainly cannot undertake without Western help and a more pacified regional environment. Access the full report>>
