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Source: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1037808--vultures-over-a-wounded-syria
Vultures over a Wounded Syria?
(Toronto Star-Canada) Rami G. Khouri - The sudden heightened rhetoric on events in Syria by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the Arab League is unlikely to change how events in Syria unfold, but it marks an important shift in Syria's and other states' place and role in the wider Middle East. The most significant trend is the more assertive role of regional actors, as international players find that they have very limited means of influencing Syrian government actions. This is linked to the slow transformation of Syria from a leading actor into a more passive player whose domestic troubles have suddenly clipped its regional wings. Syria's ruling establishment remains strong and broadly unified for now, but its end is certain if it uses no other means than military force to respond to the populist national uprising that challenges it. The writer is editor-at-large of the Beirut Daily Star and director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut.