Making sense of Syria

Abstract

With more than 1,400 of his country's citizens killed in three months of protests, the president of Syria gave a speech on 20 June. It was the third time that Bashar al-Assad had addressed the nation since the Arab Spring reached Syria, but his renewed promises of dialogue and reform failed to convince the opposition; four days later they staged the biggest day of protest yet against the regime. The situation inside Syria has continued to deteriorate, especially after a violent crackdown in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour and an exodus of thousands to Turkey. But despite concerns of a growing humanitarian crisis, the international response has been very different to that in Libya.