The major issue preoccuping those interested in the Middle East is what to do about Syria, and whether the United States and Europe should provide military assistance to the opposition groups fighting to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
It is topical given the current trip to the region by United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who has met with the head of the main political opposition group in Syria, the Syrian National Coalition.
Kerry also announced US$60 million in non-military aid to help the Syrian opposition. He surprised many when he said American aid and assistance to the Syrian opposition would be limited to food supplies and improving the infrastructure in rebel held areas.
The United States seems to have learnt lessons from its fiasco in Afghanistan but the offer of help provides for enough political and diplomatic space to exert pressure on the regime in Damascus to stand down.
The fact that the United States wants its allies in Europe and the Middle East to exercise patience and desist from arming the rebels will be a new doctrine of sorts for the superpower that has a preference for gunboat diplomacy.
It is a kind of “Obama Doctrine” as credit must go to President Barack Obama who is determined to keep the United States away from another war, and had weathered the pressure to stay aloof from the uprising in Libya.
America’s logistic and tactical support to its allies, Britain and France, in dislodging Muammar Gaddafi is a case in point. In the case of Syria, as in Libya, the United States wants to maintain a safe distance from being seen as a warmonger.
Kerry has taken a courageous stance by giving diplomacy a chance to work. This provides the framework for the United Nations and the Arab League to pick up the pieces and resume a proactive phase of negotiations.
It has also come at a time when both Damascus and the opposition had agreed to initiate dialogue. Russia should now play its part by pressurizing al-Assad to make way for a broad-based government though he said he would not be stepping down.
It is an opportunity for the president to pull Syria away from civil chaos. His offer of talks came as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said they were prepared to broker peace talks between the government and the opposition.
However, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for changes to a European arms embargo on Syria “so that we can provide a broader range of support to the National Coalition”.
The civil war in Syria has gone on for over a year now and no party seems able achieve victory.
Predictably, al-Assad has ruled out any mediation role for Britain, saying: “We don’t expect an arsonist to be a firefighter.”
