Syria

Jeffrey Lewis in The New Yorker | 'A Strike in the Dark; What did Israel bomb in Syria?'

Communications — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:51:00 -0500

New America in the News:

A Strike in the Dark; What did Israel bomb in Syria? (The New Yorker)

...Much of what one would expect to see around a secret nuclear site was lacking at the target, a former State Department intelligence expert who now deals with proliferation issues for the Congress said. "There is no security around the building," he said. "No barracks for the Army or the workers. No associated complex."

Jeffrey Lewis, who heads the non-proliferation program at the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington, told me that, even if the width and the length of the building were similar to the Korean site, its height was simply not sufficient to contain a Yongbyon-size reactor and also have enough room to extract the control rods, an essential step in the operation of the reactor; nor was there evidence in the published imagery of major underground construction.

"All you could see was a box," Lewis said. "You couldn't see enough to know how big it will be or what it will do. It's just a box." ...

Daniel Levy Discusses the Annapolis Conference with The Jewish Week

Communications — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:49:00 -0500

New America in the News:

A summit that spurred fears on the right of sweeping new Israeli concessions and hopes on the left of an end to the long negotiating impasse now looks more like a diplomatic set piece choreographed to launch arduous negotiations over a revived and revised Mideast road map.

And with less than two weeks to go, there are more questions than answers about the one-day meeting at Annapolis, MD...

This week there were heightened indications that the Bush administration is pushing hard for Syrian participation, although there was no consensus in Jewish leadership circles about what that means.

Over the weekend Rice said on ABC News that “this meeting is about Israel and the Palestinians, but we understand that ultimately there has to be a comprehensive agreement and there has to be progress on the other tracks as well.”

Some pro-peace process activists say dealing with Syria in the Annapolis context makes sense.

“Breaking the current, unproductive position of isolating Syria could produce one of the most significant outcomes of Annapolis,” said Daniel Levy, director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative of the Century Foundation. “If you really want to give this conference a broader buy-in in the region and move beyond the current divisions which make it much more difficult to move the process forward, then a real effort must be made to engage with Syria.” ...

For the complete article, please follow this link. Daniel Levy is also director of the American Strategy Program's Middle East Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation.

Inter Press Service Quotes Daniel Levy on Necon Strategy

Communications — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 07:48:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The Bush administration has maintained a hard-line policy stance on Syria. It has not had high-level diplomatic relations with the country since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. The U.S. has alleged that Syria played a role in the assassination.

Neoconservatives appear to be re-igniting a political narrative that fits neatly with the infamous cast of the "axis of evil". While not explicitly mentioned, Syria has often been designated as a junior partner of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea's "reign of terror" because of its support for Islamist opposition groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

"They want to torpedo the North Korea deal, they have clung doggedly to making sure that there is no cooperation in Syria, and they're the same people who got us into this mess in the Middle East in the first place," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and senior fellow at the Washington-based New America Foundation...

For more information on this article, please visit the Inter Press Service website.

Afshin Molavi on the Complicated Relationship Between Syria and Iran

Communications — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:56:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The ceasefire in the month long war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding. But the politicking and jockeying for power has only begun. Hezbollah claims victory - they survived the punishing attacks of the Israeli Defence Forces. Israel too has declared military superiority - they say they decimated Hezbollah's infrastructure and weaponry. But beyond the posturing of the two sides of the conflict, the fallout from the war is much more complicated and nuanced. Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned Hezbollah for instigating the war and are now breathing a sigh of relief that things between Lebanon and Israel didn't get completely out of control. Meanwhile Syria and Iran, no friends of Israel, are basking in the glow of Hezbollah's perceived military success. As the Lebanese militia's main suppliers of money, weapons and military training, Syria and Iran play a critical role in making, and keeping, the peace in the area. But are these two countries really suited to a long term alliance against Israel and the U.S.? Syria and Iran may have common cause and enemies in this round of middle east conflict, but is it a viable marriage - socially, politically or religiously?Old wounds have been re-opened in the Middle East and this morning we ask two regional analysts to weigh in on the complicated relationships between these countries and their political factions.

Joshua Landis is an assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His blog, Syriacomment.com, is an authoritative source of information on the history and political regime in Syria. Afshin Molavi is a journalist and fellow with the New America Foundation. He was born in Iran, and moved to the U.S. at a young age. He recently returned there to write a political travelogue, "The Soul of Iran" which was published by Penguin last year...

For the interview, please go to the CBC Radio Website.