ACTUAL SYRIA COMMENT – JOSHUA LANDIS (CLICK FOR FULL TEXTS)

Preparing for the day after al-Assad’s fall Inside Syria – Aljazeera

Presenter Ghida Fakhry: Joshua Landis; Yazan Abdallah, a Syrian academic and member of the Syria Dialogue – a group calling for transitional change in Syria; and Saleh Mubarak, a member of the Syrian National Council and a professor at Qatar University.

See PBS Frontline on Syria tomorrow – Tuesday – Very impressive and powerful documentary produced by Azmat Khan and filmed by Olly Lambert.

Alawites

The Alawite Dilemma in Homs Survival, Solidarity and the Making of a Community
AZIZ NAKKASH, March 2013

[Excellent article based on interviews with numerous Alawi inhabitants of Homs, explaining their reasons for supporting the regime and fighting in the various branches of the military and shabiha. ]

Economy

Steep fall in Syria foreign trade in 2012 – Now Syria

Faltering role of tribal leaders tested by oil-related disputes in Deir Ezzor (Part III) Hassan Hassan [Great new Blog by Hassan]

Syria oil industry buckling under rebel gains
By BASSEM MROUE | Associated Press

Syria’s vital oil industry is breaking down as rebels capture many of the country’s oil fields, with wells aflame and looters scooping up crude, depriving the government of much needed cash and fuel for its war machine against the uprising.

Exports have ground practically to a standstill, and the regime of President Bashar Assad has been forced to import refined fuel supplies to keep up with demand amid shortages and rising prices. In a sign of the increasing desperation, the oil minister met last week with Chinese and Russian officials to discuss exploring for gas and oil in the Mediterranean off Syria’s coast…. ”Businesswise there isn’t a company that is willing to invest in Syria these days,” said Seifan, who currently lives in Iraq.

A new report on the northern city of Aleppo goes some way to showing how dire the situation in Syria is economist.