Golan Heights 2

I still haven't written anything original, but unashamedly I offer this comment on an article by Dr Murhaf Jouejati of George Washington University:

From Philip I

Good article. I would add the following point. A nation's strength (for strength read negotiating power) stems mainly from the effectiveness of its institutions and intellectual capacity and discipline of individuals within them. Obsolete military hardware can still be lethal in the right hands.

The Assad regime (father and son), rather than building national strength from within, has systematically driven out the middle class. It has used common thuggery and blackmail in conducting foreign policy through the manipulation of militia groups.

It will take at least two decades to repair the fabric of society let alone build a stronger nation capable of liberating the Golan. As Einstein said: "The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."