As the US prepares to send an ambassador to Syria for the first time in five years, elements on the American right are fighting a limp rearguard action against engagement with the Damascus regime.

Syria expert Joshua Landis discusses this on his blog and argues that sanctions have failed miserably.

Writing for Comment is free, Chris Phillips analyses President Assad's recovery from the dark days of 2005 in the immediate aftermath of the Hariri assassination in Lebanon.

Assad's liberalising economic policies have reaped rewards, he says, with Syria's unexpected growth enhancing Damascus's emerging international confidence:

New trade from Turkey, Iraq and the EU has eased fears that economic demands would force Syria to compromise with the US and Israel. Instead, western investors are flocking to Syria, and even the tourist industry is expanding, with Damascus recently named by the New York Times as seventh top destination for 2010. Not surprisingly, Assad's domestic popularity is enhanced by the developing middle class, who credit their president for this economic success.

Whatever you think of his regime, it's hard to dispute that Assad has also played a rather smart game on the diplomatic front. Phillips continues:

While sharing his father's unwillingness to bend to US pressure and, perhaps less ruthlessly, stifling of opposition at home, Assad has shown himself to be a different kind of leader. Since the Lebanon withdrawal he has demonstrated opportunism when backed into a corner and a sound reading of the international climate. After the initial disaster of 2005, Assad was quick to adapt the hard power exercised over Beirut by Hafez [his father] into the soft power and indirect influence that has seen Syrian dominance in Lebanon return.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 19 February 2010.