“Syrian spring” and the ultimate stress limit of Bashar Assad regime

... intellectuals belong to the most educated and professional societies of the Arab world. A positive factor in the Syrian situation is the absence of big oil money, consequently, there is no such social stratification shocking the public, which caused the revolution in Iran. Syrian opposition is relatively weak and uncoordinated, while the defection among the military is limited. So far only one top official, Deputy Oil Minister, declared his defection to the opposition. Only cautious but steady democratization of the regime ...