{"id":11924,"date":"2011-09-09T13:56:43","date_gmt":"2011-09-09T17:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=11924"},"modified":"2011-09-09T18:18:15","modified_gmt":"2011-09-09T22:18:15","slug":"will-the-regime-reach-a-tipping-point-and-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/will-the-regime-reach-a-tipping-point-and-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the Regime Reach a Tipping Point and Collapse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Assad go peacefully? (Or at all?)<\/a>
\nThursday, September 8, 2011<\/p>\n

Welcome to the first edition of a new Foreign Policy partnership with Bloggingheads.tv.<\/p>\n

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See the complete discussion here<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Syria\u2019s opposition unite?<\/a> (03:43)
\nTesting the limits of non-violent resistance<\/a> (03:50)
\nJoshua vs. Ausama on the effectiveness of sanctions<\/a> (05:25)
\nIs Syria\u2019s history of internal division insurmountable?<\/a> (08:50)
\nThe next steps for the uprising<\/a> (02:16)<\/p>\n

EU just announced that they are about to start a new round of sanctions <\/a>in Syria. The new sanctions “will very likely include energy investments.” They are likely to “add a number of new entities”. The sanctioning of the energy investments will place considerably greater pressure on Syria than simply embargoing energy exports and imports. The new sanctions will force major foreign firms to stop pumping oil in Syria. This may well hobble oil production until new investors are found. Also, the EU will try to block Syria’s access to bank notes, which are traditionally printed in Austria.
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Syrian papers are announcing that the Syrian Constitution <\/a>will be redrafted, including the key “article Eight,” which defines the Baath Party as the leader of Syrian politics and society.<\/p>\n

News of possible postponement of the starting date of school year,<\/a> according to All4Syria. Hundreds of female teachers lodged requests to be allowed to return to their home towns in the costal areas. 2011\/09\/07<\/p>\n

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said<\/a>, \u201cThe Arab League has no mandate to bring about change by force in a member state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syria has enough strategic commodities<\/a> to sustain its population for five years, Mohammad Jleilati, Syrian Minister of Finance, has told Gulf News. Jleilati said Syria had reserves of wheat, and sugar for five years and that sanctions and embargoes on trade would not harm the country.<\/p>\n

President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia may back a “variety of approaches”<\/a> on Syria as long as the measures target both sides of the conflict, which includes “extremists” and “terrorists” among protesters.<\/p>\n

Fawaz Gerges says,<\/a> \u201cthe Syrian protesters know very well they must take ownership of their revolution. It will take time, it will be prolonged, it will be bloody, it will be costly and it will take, in fact, years as opposed to months. But the reality is there is no other way for them, given the complexity and the difficulty of the Syrian case.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did Syria’s top businessmen<\/strong> respond to the Sanctions imposed on them?<\/p>\n