Landis in the News 2005


Newsweek
Dangers in Damascus
October 6, 2005
by Kevin Peraino

The goal seems to be to “get [the regime] by the throat, and then really squeeze,” says Josh Landis, a Fulbright scholar in Damascus who runs an influential blog called syriacomment.com. Maybe it’s working: diplomats in Damascus say they’ve seen signs in recent months that al-Assad is trying to police Syria’s southern border better.

The Washington Post
Wary Eyes Cast on Iraqi Kurds
October 15, 2005
by Karl Vick

“The Kurds were clearly emboldened by what was happening in Iraq,” said Joshua Landis, a University of Oklahoma historian who is in Syria as a Fulbright scholar. He noted that the soccer game occurred just after Washington endorsed Iraqi laws that gave Kurds veto power over a new constitution.”In a sense, this just changed the whole environment among the Kurds, because it was seen as the U.S. endorsing Kurdish independence,” Landis said.

NPR
Syrian Official’s Suicide Investigated
October 13, 2005
By Steve Inskeep

Syria’s Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan committed suicide in his office in Damascus Wednesday. Authorities are investigating his death. Steve Inskeep talks to Joshua Landis, assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

NPR
Syrian Interior Minister Commits Suicide
October 12, 2005
By Neal Conan

NPR
In Syria, Providing a Voice for Moderate Islam
August 3, 2005
by Deborah Amos

Professor JOSH LANDIS (Damascus Resident): On the grand strategy, the Muslim Brotherhood has been trying to figure out how to engage, how to get back into the political game, because they lost. They were forced out.

NPR
Syrian Opposition Leaders Meet in London
July 11, 2005
by Deborah Amos
Morning Edition: Syrian Opposition Leaders Meet in London

Joshua Landis: None of those things concern democracy in Syria and this leaves the opposition here high and dry. They realize they have no ally in America.Because once you ask Bashar to treat the democrats here responsibly, then you have to reward him when he does it, and that means dialogue, carrots, not just a stick. It’s completely antithetical to the present policy.

 

The Daily Star
Syria Opposition too weak to confront state

June 8, 2005
by Nicholas Blanford

“The government believes that the Americans and the opposition are courting the Muslim Brotherhood and they won’t allow that. They want the Muslim Brotherhood to themselves,” said Joshua Landis, a professor of history who lives in Damascus and is author of the www.syriacomment.com blog.

The Daily Star
Assad reaffirms role of Baath Party
June 7, 2005
by Rhonda Roumani

“The conference was not about change, as [much as] showing a united front to the Syrian people,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert who runs syriacomment.com, a Weblog on Syrian affairs. “The speech was a downer. It showed that the congress is a consultative body, not a legislative body.”

The Daily Star
Syrians have low hopes for Baath Party Congress
June 06, 2005
by Rhonda Roumani

“Expectations are down,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert who runs Syriacomment.com, a Weblog on Syrian affairs. “The president promised there was going to be a big leap. Everybody began hoping that this would be the break that would change the country and set it on a different course. Then the president was the leading person trying to bring down expectations.”