The Geneva II conference has yet to convene — indeed, it may never convene — but the failure of the “outsiders” to organize coherently in anticipation of the conference has clarified a number of important if uncomfortable realities.
The Baath Party has wielded power for more than half a century in Syria for reasons more complex and legitimate than many are prepared to credit. It emerged as pre-eminent as a consequence of the strengths and weaknesses displayed by its local and regional competitors. The shortcomings of the opposition today, and not principally on the battlefield, suggest a similar, powerful rationale for its continuing claim to exercise power.
