‘Regionally and internationally, it is in no one’s interest for the revolution to succeed’

June 18, 2013

As the G-8 meeting unfolds in Northern Iran with Syria set to top the agenda, Mowfaq Zraik, a political writer and analyst based in Riyadh tells Abdulrahman al-Masri why he feels regional and international powers have no interest in the Syrian revolution succeeding.

Q: What is your opinion on Russian intransigence, the unwillingness to change their stance on providing arms to the Syrian regime?

A: Really, there is no Russian intransigence. On the international stage, there is a consensus about the prolongation and management of the crisis. Drawing from their actions and behavior, rather than their statements, I see that there is an international consensus, and that America does not differ in practice from Russia in how it deals with the crisis.

There are points that they agree upon: that this regime must not fall in revolution, that they consider the Syrian people among the most dangerous in the region, and that there is a heated front with Israel. Regionally and internationally, it is in no one’s interest for the revolution to succeed. Many have infiltrated and corrupted the revolution and steered it in unsound directions.

Q: Do the revolutionaries think that a small increase in weaponry will change the situation?

A: Therein lies the danger of militarization, for things will be managed from the outside. This situation, an “international conflict” inside Syria, contrary to international agreement and consensus, will lead to the division of Syria into parts and factions.

I believe that Syria will become an area of influence, and that the entity of Syria, or at least the Syrian state, will [cease to exist]. Instead, Syria will [just] be the intersection of Turkey, Iran, and Israel, with arms increasing the power of the two fighting sides, under the control of external states.

Q: What is the outcome that you anticipate from the G8 meeting?

A: I’m not anticipating anything specific from the meeting, but it seems that the Americans want to work on the balance of power in Syria in terms of armaments. There won’t be a winner or a loser, so we’ll have to wait for the next meeting.