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News Tip: Middle East Expert Can Discuss Syria Developments

The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria in response to the deadly conflict there

Bruce JentlesonProfessor of public policy and political sciencehttp://fds.duke.edu/db/Sanford/bwj

Jentleson is a former senior adviser to the U.S. State Department policy planning director and also worked on Middle East issues in the Clinton administration. He studies post-Cold War American foreign policy, the Middle East, international security and particularly issues of force and diplomacy. His recent paper on the U.S. and political Islam can be viewed at http://www.twq.com/11summer/index.cfm?id=448.

Quote:"The U.S. should continue to find ways to work with others in the international community -- leading with partners -- to protect the Syrian people from the Asad regime's brutality. This includes working another route through the United Nations for a General Assembly 'Uniting for Peace' resolution; 'flooding the zone' with a range of pressures short of military intervention (tighter sanctions, naming and shaming, assistance to the opposition); and finding channels, probably quiet ones and not necessarily U.S. ones, to reach out to key Syrian elites, like the business community, that while having been pro-Asad have their own interests which may be starting to point in a different direction.

"Swift response is needed, because the longer the violence and repression go on, the harder the road ahead will be."