Publication

This commentary discusses when and why Syria descended into civil war. Fearful that chaos in Syria could spill over into the region and convinced that a negotiated transition was possible, the White House refused for months to break with Assad. This conspicuous hesitation had the effect of dampening popular morale at perhaps the most critical juncture in modern Syrian history. The author concludes that today, Syria is far too polarized for Washington to achieve through coercive intervention what words might have accomplished 14 months ago.