Crackdown in Syria

A disturbing report from this week's New York Time suggests that, rather than the beginnings of an 'Arab Spring', as many commentators declared just over a year ago following the uprising in Lebanon against Syrian hegemony, the current regime in Damascus is putting more and more pressure on the country's fledgling opposition. The long-defunct neoconservative aim to remould the Middle East along democratic lines may not get aired much in these days, where cutting and running appears to be the "coaltion"'s defacto aim, but nonetheless this is a troubling report.

Just months ago, under intense international pressure to ease its stranglehold on neighboring Lebanon, the Syrian government was talking about ending the ruling Baath Party's grip on Syrian power and paving the way for a multiparty system.But things have moved in the opposite direction. Syrian officials are aggressively silencing domestic political opposition while accommodating religious conservatives to shore up support across the country.

Security forces have detained human rights workers and political leaders, and in some cases their family members as well. They have barred travel abroad for political conferences and shut down a human rights center financed by the European Union. And the government has delivered a stern message to the national news media demanding that they promote — not challenge — the official agenda.

The leadership's actions were described in interviews with top officials as well as dissidents and human rights activists. They reflect at least in part a growing sense of confidence because of shifts in the Middle East in recent months, especially the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections, political paralysis in Lebanon and the intense difficulties facing the United States in trying to stabilize Iraq and stymie Iran's drive toward nuclear power.

The report also notes the effect of increasing levels of Islamist political representation across the region - most recently in the Hamas victory - is having on secular, authoritarian regimes like that of Bashar al-Assad:

The government has also sought to fortify its position with a nod to a reality sweeping not just Syria, but the region: a surge in religious identification and a growing desire to empower religious political movements like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter group recently won 88 seats in the Egyptian Parliament in spite of government efforts to block its supporters from voting.

Rather than the relgious repression of old, the Syrian government is now seeking to wrap itself in the flag of Islam, and convince the population of its legitimacy within Islam.