![A boy sits at his parents' house, damaged by shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Talbiseh, near Homs August 31, 2012. Picture taken August 31, 2012. REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q3/RTR37XC3.jpg/RTR37XC3.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=nBQrvGEG)
Amal Mudallali is a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She has advised the late Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and continues in this capacity with former prime minister Saad Hariri.
![A boy sits at his parents' house, damaged by shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Talbiseh, near Homs August 31, 2012. Picture taken August 31, 2012. REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q3/RTR37XC3.jpg/RTR37XC3.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=nBQrvGEG)
![Russian investigators work near the scene of a car bomb blast in the city of Kazan July 19, 2012. The most senior Islamic official in Russia's largely Muslim Tatarstan region was wounded in a car bomb attack and his deputy was killed in a separate shooting on Thursday, law enforcement officials said. REUTERS/Aleksey Nasyrov (RUSSIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW RELIGION)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q3/Tartarstan%20bombing.%20Russian%20muslims.jpg/Tartarstan%20bombing.%20Russian%20muslims.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=nFlIOcrn)
Amal Mudallali