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The Syrian Regime's Slow-Motion Suicide
(International Crisis Group) Desperate to survive at all costs, Syria's regime appears to be digging its grave. Protesters have gained ground but have yet to cross the crucial threshold that requires enlisting the capital, Damascus. The crisis of confidence with much of the population and loss of legitimacy is almost surely too deep to be overcome. Economic conditions are worsening; should they reach breaking point - a not unimaginable scenario - the regime could well collapse. Predominantly Alawite security forces are overworked, underpaid and increasingly worried. Should they conclude that they ought to protect what still can be salvaged - their own villages - rather than try to defend what increasingly looks doomed - the existing power structure - their defection would precipitate the end of the regime.