In Syria, violence has escalated in an uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad, including a recent shelling by Assad’s forces in Homs that reportedly killed up to 300 people. In response, the U.N. Security Council put forth a resolution calling on Assad to give up power. China and Russia vetoed the resolution. From the Los Angeles Times:“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now,” Obama declared before the vote, reacting to accounts of an overnight shelling in the restive city of Homs that opposition activists said left at least 200 people dead. “He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately.” Instead, the veto by Russia and China threw a lifeline to Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years through deft manipulation of regional intrigues, an essential skill for a nation in a volatile region, bordering Israel, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The vote would seem to signal a death knell for the Arab League’s peace road map, hammered out during months of negotiation. There is no other pending peace plan. That leaves the United States and its allies with few options for halting the... Read more