How far will Assad go?

Ten months after the start of the Syrian uprising, we analyse the words of its embattled president: his denial, his threats and his defiance. Melissa Bell's panel discusses what the one-and-a-half hour speech tells us about the strength of the regime of Bashar al al-Assad, besieged as it is by sanctions and under continued pressure from within.

DEBATE

Monzer MAKHOUS. Member of the Syrian National Council;
Jonathan PARIS. Middle East Analyst; Senior Fellow, South Asia Center - Atlantic Council;
Andrew TABLER. Next Generation Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East policy (from Washington);
Marietje SCHAAKE. MEP, Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; ALDE Spokesperson for Syria (from Brussels).

Watch the second part here.

Presenter

François Picard

02/04/2013 - THE DEBATE

Tax the rich, Act II (part 2)

Sparks fly when François Hollande’s plan to plough ahead with a plan to tax the super-rich gets even just a mention. However, the revised plan may be the spoonful of sugar that makes the real medicine go down, a bill to loosen France’s famously stringent labour laws.

01/04/2013 - THE DEBATE

Kremlin crackdown: Putin tightens the screws (part 2)

Last year’s unprecedented protests against Vladimir Putin may be a fading memory, but the swoop against non-governmental organisations seems to indicate a tightening of the screws. François Picard’s panel argues over the motives and timing.

01/04/2013 - THE DEBATE

Kremlin crackdown: Putin tightens the screws

28/03/2013 - THE DEBATE

Why the coup? Old story, new players in Central African Republic (part 2)

It’s an all-too familiar tale, but with some new players: the latest coup in the resource-rich Central African Republic raises questions over South Africa’s support to ousted president François Bozizé and interests that go as far as France and China.