Political Strategists Debate War in Syria

As war continues to rage in Syria and nearly one-third of the country’s population finds itself displaced, three political strategists speaking at a panel discussion at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on Tuesday night all agreed that Syria has become a complete sectarian war zone.

Beyond that, however, the panelists could agree on little more.

The round-panel discussion, entitled “The Syrian Tragedy: Ending the Bloodshed,” was moderated by Kennedy School professor Meghan L. O’Sullivan.

Much of the evening’s discussion focused on different strategies that could be employed to lessen the amount of bloodshed in Syria.

“The jury is out that this conflict will only be solved through political negotiations,” said Mona Yacoubian, a senior advisor on the Middle East at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, D.C.

“We are at a point where if we leave Syria to its own devices, we will see civil war for years to come.”

Joseph Bahout, a professor at the Parisian education and research institution Sciences Po, expressed skepticism about the efficacy of diplomatic negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “The Assad regime since its establishment in the 1970s has never negotiated without a pistol to its head,” he said. “A political solution is necessary, but I don’t see how we can reach a solution right now.”

The role of the United States in the conflict also dominated much of the discussion, especially in light of President Barack Obama’s now-stalled proposal to Congress to carry out military strikes in Syria.

“I saw no effort to define objectives or a systematic American strategy in Syria,” said Frederic C. Hof, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center in Washington, D.C.

“To the extent the U.S. considers a military option, we should go after the artillery and aircraft of the regime,” said Hof, who is also a former special adviser to the Obama administration on Syrian affairs.

Yacoubian, alternatively, talked about the importance of viewing changes in the Middle East as a gradual process.

“I don’t call recent events in the Middle East the Arab Spring,” she said. “This is an Arab uprising. You can’t have decades of authoritarian rule and then establish a democracy in a few years.”

The panelists did agree, however, on the importance of humanitarian aid in American responses to the conflict.

“Students here should go and seek out local NGOs that provide humanitarian help in Syria,” Hof said.

“We’re seeing an entire generation of kids being driven to violence,” added Bahout, who previously volunteered in a refugee camp in Jordan. “Going and simply teaching courses in the refugee camps can provide an alternative to that.”