Sergey Lavrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 March 2004
President	Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister	Mikhail Fradkov Viktor Zubkov Vladimir Putin Viktor Zubkov (Acting) Dmitry Medvedev
Preceded by	Igor Ivanov
Personal details
Born	(1950-03-21) 21 March 1950 (age 62) Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Political party	United Russia
Spouse(s)	Maria Lavrova
Children	Ekaterina
Alma mater	Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Signature
Military service
Awards	Order of Honour

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has been the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. His nomination to the Foreign Minister office were approved by two Russian presidents: (in 2008 by Medvedev, and in 2012 by Putin).

Prior to that, Lavrov was a Soviet diplomat and Russia's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004. Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French and Sinhala.^[1]

Early life[link]

This section requires expansion.

Lavrov was born in Moscow to an Armenian father from Tbilisi^[2][3] and Russian^[4] mother from Georgia. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1972. Lavrov was sent as a Soviet diplomat to Sri Lanka, where he worked until 1976. He then returned to Moscow and worked in the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[5]

Ambassador to the United Nations[link]

In 1981, he was sent as a senior adviser to the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York City, and worked there until 1988. He worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1994, when he returned to work in the United Nations, this time as the Permanent Representative of Russia. While in the latter position, he was President of the United Nations Security Council in December 1995, June 1997, July 1998, October 1999,^[6] December 2000, April 2002, and June 2003.^[7]

Foreign Ministership[link]

On 9 March 2004, President Vladimir Putin appointed Lavrov to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs. He succeeded Igor Ivanov in the post.

Lavrov is regarded as continuing the style of his predecessor: a brilliant diplomat but a civil servant rather than a politician, Russia's foreign policy being largely determined by the President of the Russian Federation. Dr. Bobo Lo, a Russian foreign policy expert at London's Chatham House has described him as "a tough, reliable, extremely sophisticated negotiator", but adding that "he's not part of Putin's inner sanctum" and that the toughening of Russian foreign policy has got very little to do with him.^[8]

Personal life[link]

This section requires expansion.

Mr. Lavrov is married and has a daughter, Ekaterina. His hobbies include playing guitar and writing songs and poetry. He is a keen sportsman and a heavy chain smoker.^[8][9]

Honours and awards[link]

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class (2010), 3rd class (2005) and 4th class (1998)
• Order of Honour (1996)
• Honoured Worker of the Diplomatic Service of the Russian Federation (2004)
• Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2010) and 2nd class
• Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan, 2005)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru, 2007)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus, 2006)
• Order of Friendship (Vietnam, 2009)
• Order of Friendship (Laos)
• Medal of Honour (South Ossetia, 19 March 2010) - for his great personal contribution to strengthening international security, peace and stability in the Caucasus, the development of friendly relations between the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation
• Order of St. Mashtots (Armenia, August 19, 2010) - for outstanding contribution to the consolidation and development of age-old Armenian-Russian friendly relations
• Gold Medal of the Yerevan State University (Armenia, 2007)
• Honorary medal "For participation in the programs of the United Nations" (UN Association of Russia, 2005)
• Order of Heydar Aliyev

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sergey Lavrov

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Sergey Lavrov

• (English) Biography of Lavrov on the Department of Foreign Affairs site
• (Russian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
• (Russian) Moscow State Institute of International Relations
• (French) Sergeï Lavrov interview

v t e Current Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev Viktor Zubkov Igor Shuvalov Vyacheslav Volodin Alexander Khloponin Igor Sechin Dmitry Kozak Dmitry Rogozin Sergey Lavrov Vladimir Kolokoltsev Anton Siluanov Anatoly Serdyukov Sergey Shoigu Alexander Konovalov Viktor Khristenko Elvira Nabiullina Viktor Basargin Tatyana Golikova Andrei Fursenko Igor Levitin Yuri Trutnev Sergei Shmatko Alexsandr Avdeyev Vitaly Mutko Igor Shchyogolev Yelena Skrynnik

Fareed Zakaria
Zakaria at Charles Schwab Institutional Impact 2007
Born	Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (1964-01-20) January 20, 1964 (age 48) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater	Yale University (AB) Harvard University (PhD)
Occupation	Journalist, commentator, author
Notable credit(s)	Time magazine, contributing editor (2010) Fareed Zakaria GPS, host (2008–present) Newsweek International, editor (2000–2010) Foreign Exchange, host (2005–2007) Foreign Affairs, former managing editor
Spouse	Paula Throckmorton Zakaria
Children	Omar, Lila, Sofia
Website
www.fareedzakaria.com

Fareed Rafiq Zakaria ( /fəˈriːd zəˈkɑriə/; Konkani/Hindi: फ़रीद राफ़िक़ ज़कारिया, Urdu: فرید رفیق زکریا; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became editor-at-large of Time magazine. He is also the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, and a frequent commentator and author about issues related to international relations, trade and American foreign policy.^[1]

In 2010, the government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution towards journalism.^[2]

Early life[link]

Zakaria was born in Mumbai (then Bombay), Maharashtra, India, to a Konkani Muslim family.^[3] His father, Rafiq Zakaria, was a politician associated with the Indian National Congress and an Islamic scholar. His mother, Fatima Zakaria, was for a time the editor of the Sunday Times of India.

Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University,^[1] where he was president of the Yale Political Union, editor-in-chief of the Yale Political Monthly, a member of the Scroll and Key society, and a member of the Party of the Right. He later earned a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from Harvard University in 1993,^[1] where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley Hoffmann, as well as international relations theorist Robert Keohane.^[4]

Career[link]

After directing a research project on American foreign policy at Harvard, Zakaria became managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine in 1992. In October 2000, he was named editor of Newsweek International,^[1] and wrote a weekly foreign affairs column. In August 2010 it was announced that he was moving from Newsweek to Time magazine, to serve as a contributing editor and columnist.^[5]

He has written on a variety of subjects for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and as a wine columnist for the web magazine Slate.^[6][7]

Zakaria is the author of From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Princeton, 1998), The Future of Freedom (Norton, 2003), and The Post-American World (2008); he has also co-edited The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World (Basic Books).

In 2007, Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines named him one of the 100 leading public intellectuals in the world.^[8]

Zakaria was a news analyst with ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos (2002–2007); he hosted the weekly TV news show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS (2005–2008); his weekly show, Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square) premiered on CNN in June 2008.^[1] As of November 2011, It airs on Sundays at 10:00am and 1:00pm Eastern Daylight Time.^[9]

Political views[link]

Zakaria self-identifies as a "centrist",^[10] though he has been described variously as a political liberal,^[11][12] a conservative,^[13] or a moderate.^[14] George Stephanopoulos said of him in 2003, "He’s so well versed in politics, and he can’t be pigeonholed. I can’t be sure whenever I turn to him where he’s going to be coming from or what he’s going to say."^[15] Zakaria wrote in February 2008 that "Conservatism grew powerful in the 1970s and 1980s because it proposed solutions appropriate to the problems of the age", adding that "a new world requires new thinking".^[16] He supported Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign and also for president. In January 2009 Forbes referred to Zakaria as one of the 25 most influential liberals in the American media.^[11] Zakaria has stated that he tries not to be devoted to any type of ideology, saying "I feel that's part of my job... which is not to pick sides but to explain what I think is happening on the ground. I can't say, 'This is my team and I'm going to root for them no matter what they do.'"^[10]

Fareed Zakaria at World Economic Forum 2006, Davos, Switzerland (second from the right)

Zakaria's books include The Future of Freedom and The Post-American World. The Future of Freedom argues that what is defined as democracy in the Western world is actually "liberal democracy," a combination of liberal constitutionalism and participatory politics. Zakaria points out that protection of liberty and the rule of law actually preceded popular elections by centuries in Western Europe, and that when countries only adopt elections without the protection of liberty, they create "illiberal democracy." The Post-American World, published in 2008 before the financial crisis, argued that the most important trend of modern times is the "rise of the rest," the economic emergence of China, India, Brazil and other countries.^[17]

After the 9/11 attacks, in a Newsweek cover essay, "Why They Hate Us," Zakaria argued that Islamic extremism was not fundamentally rooted in Islam, nor could it be claimed a reaction to American foreign policy. He portrayed Osama bin Laden as one in a long line of extremists who used religion to justify mass murder. Zakaria argued for an inter-generational effort to create more open and dynamic societies in Arab countries, and thereby helping Islam enter the modern world.^[18]

Zakaria initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[13] He said at the time, “The place is so dysfunctional... any stirring of the pot is good. America’s involvement in the region is for the good."^[13] He argued for a United Nations-sanctioned operation with a much larger force—approximately 400,000 troops—than was actually employed by the administration of President George W. Bush. After the invasion, he frequently criticized the way the Bush administration was running the occupation of Iraq.^[19] He continued to argue that a functioning democracy in Iraq would be a powerful new model for Arab politics but believes that at this point, an honest accounting would have to say that the costs of the invasion and occupation have been much higher than the benefits. He opposed the Iraq surge in March 2007, writing that it would work militarily but not politically, still leaving Iraq divided among its three communities. Instead he advocated that Washington push hard for a political settlement between the Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, and begin a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops.^[19] In January 2009, he stated flatly that the surge "succeeded," militarily and did better politically than he would have predicted.^[20][21]

From 2006, Zakaria has also criticized what he views as "fear-based" American policies employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in enforcing immigration and drug smuggling laws, and has argued in favor of decriminalization of drugs and citizenship for presently illegal immigrants to the United States of all backgrounds.^[22][23][24]

Before the 2008 US Presidential election, Zakaria endorsed Barack Obama on his CNN program.^[25] In May 2011 The New York Times reported that President Obama has "sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria ... and Thomas L. Friedman" concerning Middle East issues.^[26]

Wolfowitz meeting[link]

In his 2006 book State of Denial, Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward described a November 29, 2001, meeting of Middle East analysts, including Zakaria, that was convened at the request of the then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. According to a New York Times story on Woodward's book, the Wolfowitz meeting ultimately produced a report for President George W. Bush that supported the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Zakaria, however, later told The New York Times that he had briefly attended what he thought was "a brainstorming session".^[27] He was not told that a report would be prepared for the President, and the report did not have his name on it.^[28]

Personal[link]

Zakaria is a naturalized American citizen.^[29] He currently resides in New York City^[1] with his wife, Paula Throckmorton Zakaria, son Omar, and daughters Lila and Sofia.

Awards[link]

Zakaria was conferred India Abroad Person of the Year 2008 award on March 20, 2009, in New York.^[30] Filmmaker Mira Nair, who won the award for year 2007, honored her successor. He has received honorary degrees at the University of Miami, Oberlin College, Bates College, Brown University, Harvard University,^[31] and Johns Hopkins University.

In January 2010, Zakaria was given the Padma Bhushan award by the Indian government for his contribution to the field of journalism.^[32]

In 2005, Zakaria was awarded the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize from the Anti-Defamation League ("ADL"). In July 2010 the ADL expressed its opposition to the Park51 Islamic cultural center and mosque, planned for a site that is two blocks from the World Trade Center site. Zakaria returned the award in protest, saying that he could not "in good conscience keep it anymore". In support of his decision, he stated that the larger issue in the controversy is freedom of religion in America, even while acknowledging that he is not a religious person. He also wrote that a "moderate, mainstream version of Islam" is essential to winning the war on terror.^[33][34][35] On the August 8, 2010, edition of Fareed Zakaria GPS, Zakaria addressed the issue, stating that in returning his award, he had hoped that the ADL would reconsider their stance.^[35]

Zakaria has accepted invitations to give commencement addresses to the 2012 graduating classes at Harvard University ^[36] and Duke University.^[37]

Bibliography[link]

• The Post-American World, Release 2.0, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2011) ISBN 0-393-08180-X
• The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2008) ISBN 0-393-06235-X
• The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2003) ISBN 0-393-04764-4
• From Wealth to Power, Fareed Zakaria, (Princeton University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-691-04496-1
• The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World Essays from 75 Years of Foreign Affairs, edited by James F. Hoge and Fareed Zakaria, (Basic Books; 1997) ISBN 0-465-00170-X

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fareed Zakaria

• FareedZakaria.com Official site
• Fareed Zakaria on Facebook
• Fareed Zakaria on Twitter
• Global Public Square at CNN
• Column archive at The Daily Star
• Column archive (through 2010) at Newsweek
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Fareed Zakaria on Charlie Rose
• Fareed Zakaria at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Fareed Zakaria in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Fareed Zakaria collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Fareed Zakaria at the Notable Names Database

Interviews and articles

• Marion Maneker. "Man of the World". New York magazine profile.
• Coverage of his many appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". Sajaforum.org
• Review roundup of "The Post-American World" at SAJA Forum
• One-on-One with Thomas L. Friedman. Omnivoracious. September 7, 2008
• "Sweet Justice". Zakaria says that German wines get a bad rap. Slate (magazine).
• Audio: Fareed Zakaria in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion show The Forum
• Q&A with Fareed Zakaria on five-year anniversary of 9/11 attacks. South Asian Journalists Association blog. September 10, 2006.
• "The Interpreter". Village Voice profile. August 9, 2005.

Bashar al-Assad بشار حافظ الأسد
President of Syria
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 July 2000
Prime Minister	Muhammad Mustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar
Vice President	Farouk al-Sharaa Najah al-Attar
Preceded by	Abdul Halim Khaddam (Acting)
Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 June 2000
Deputy	Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan
Preceded by	Hafez al-Assad
Personal details
Born	Bashar Hafez al-Assad (1965-09-11) 11 September 1965 (age 46) Damascus, Syria
Political party	Syrian-led Ba'ath Party (Syrian branch: NPF)
Spouse(s)	Asma al-Akhras
Alma mater	Damascus University
Profession	Ophthalmologist
Religion	Alawi Shia Islam[1]
Website	The President

Bashar Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: بشار حافظ الأسد‎, Baššār al-ʾAsad, ‎‎‎Arabic pronunciation: [bæʃˈʃɑːɾɪlˈʔæsæd])‎; born 11 September 1965) is the current President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000.

Al-Assad graduated from the medical school of the University of Damascus in 1988, and started to work as a doctor in the army. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital, in London, specializing in ophthalmology. In 1994, Al-Assad entered the military academy and in 1998, Al-Assad took charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras. Al-Assad was elected as President of Syria in 2000 and 2007, unopposed each time.^[2][3] During the Syrian uprising, activists and protesters have called for President al-Assad's resignation.^[4]

Early life[link]

Bashar Hafez al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, the son of Aniseh (née Makhluf) and Hafez al-Assad.^[5] His father, Hafez al-Assad, born to a poor family of Alawite background, had risen through the Party ranks, to take control of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in the 1970 Corrective Revolution, thus installing himself as president. Hafez al-Assad purged the Party, and introduced effective Alawite rule of Syria.^[5][6]

Unlike his brothers, Bassel and Maher, and sister, Bushra, Bashar was quiet and reserved and says that he lacked interest in politics or the military.^[7] He later said that he only entered his father's office once while he was in power and he never spoke about politics with him.^[8] He received his primary and secondary education in the Arab-French al-Hurriya School in Damascus^[7] and was an exemplary student.^[9] In 1982, he graduated from high school and went on to study medicine at Damascus University.^[9]

In 1988, Bashar Assad graduated from medical school and began working as an army doctor in the biggest military hospital, "Tishrin", on the outskirts of Damascus.^[10][11] Four years later, he went to the United Kingdom to begin postgraduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital, part of the St Mary's group of teaching hospitals in London.^[12] Bashar at the time had few political aspirations.^[13] His father had been grooming Bashar's older brother, Bassel al-Assad, as the future president, but never openly declaring this intent.^[14] Bashar, however, was recalled in 1994 to the Syrian army, after Bassel's unexpected death in an automobile accident.^[12]

Death of Bassel[link]

The Al-Assad family around 1994. At the front are Hafez al-Assad and his wife, Anisa. At the back row, from left to right: Maher (commander of the Republican Guard), Bashar, Bassel, Majid, and Bushra

Soon after the death of Bassel, Hafez Assad made the decision to make Bashar the new heir-apparent.^[15] Over the next six and half years, until his death in 2000, Hafez went about systematically preparing Bashar for taking over power. Preparations for a smooth transition were made on three levels. First, support was built up for Bashar in the military and security apparatus. Second, Bashar's image was established with the public. And lastly, Bashar was familiarized with the mechanisms of running the country.^[16]

To establish his credentials in the military, Bashar entered in 1994 the military academy at Homs, north of Damascus, and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel in January 1999.^[10][17][18] To establish a power base for Bashar in the military, old divisional commanders were pushed into retirement, and new, young, Alawite officers with loyalties to him took their place.^[19] Parallel to his military career, Bashar was engaged in public affairs. He was granted wide powers and became a political adviser to President Hafez al-Assad, head of the bureau to receive complaints and appeals of citizens, and led a campaign against corruption. As a result of his campaign against corruption, Bashar was able to remove his potential rivals for president.^[10]

In 1998, Bashar took charge of Syria's Lebanon file, which had since the 1970s been handled by former Vice President Abdul Khaddam, one of the few Sunni officials in the Assad government, who had until then been a potential contender for president.^[19] By taking charge of Syrian affairs in Lebanon, Bashar was able to push Khaddam aside and establish his own power base in Lebanon.^[20] In that same year after minor consultation with Lebanese politicians, Bashar installed Emile Lahoud, a loyal ally of his, as the President of Lebanon and pushed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri aside, by not placing his political weight behind his nomination as prime minister.^[21] To further weaken the old Syrian order in Lebanon, Bashar replaced the long serving de facto Syrian High Commissioner of Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, with loyal ally Rustum Ghazali.^[22] Under Bashar, Syrian corruption in Lebanon, which was already estimated at $2 billion per year in the 1990s,^[23] became more rampant and was publicly exposed with the collapse in 2003 of the Lebanese Al-Madina bank.^[24] Al-Madina was used to launder kickback money in the illegal gaming of the UN's Iraqi oil-for-food programme. Sources put the amount transferred and laundered through al-Madina at more than $1 billion, with a 25 percent commission going to Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies, among the recipients of this money were Bashar Assad's brother Maher, Emile Lahoud's son-in-law Elias Murr, and Ghazali.^[25][26]

Presidency[link]

Syria

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When the elder Assad died in 2000, Bashar was appointed leader of the Ba'ath Party and the Army, and was elected president unopposed in what the regime claimed to be a massive popular support (97.2% of the votes), after the Majlis Al Sha'ab (Parliament) swiftly voted to lower the minimum age for candidates from 40 to 34 (Assad's age when he was elected). On 27 May 2007, Bashar was approved as president for another seven-year term, with the official result of 97.6% of the votes in a referendum without another candidate.^[27]

In his domestic policy, he has been criticised for a disregard for human rights, economic lapses, and corruption.^[28][29][30] In his foreign policy, Al-Assad is an outspoken critic of the United States and Israel.^[31] The Ba'ath Party remains in control of the parliament, and is constitutionally the "leading party" of the state. Until he became president, Bashar al-Assad was not greatly involved in politics; his only public role was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001. Al-Assad was confirmed as president by an unopposed referendum in 2000. He was expected to take a more liberal approach than his father. In an interview he stated that he saw democracy in Syria as 'a tool to a better life' but then argued that it would take time for democracy to come about and that it could not be rushed.^[32] Politically and economically, Syrian life has changed only slightly since 2000. Immediately after he took office a reform movement made cautious advances during the Damascus Spring, which led al-Assad to shut down Mezzeh prison and release hundreds of political prisoners. However, security crackdowns commenced again within the year.^[33][34]

Economy[link]

Economic liberalization in Syria has been limited, with industry still heavily state-controlled. However some changes have occurred including the introduction of private banking and the encouragement of foreign involvement, most notably in the oil sector. The need for a diversification of the economy has been pressed for by some^[35] as it has been predicted that Syria will change from exporting to having to import oil by 2015. The reliance upon oil is reflected by manufacturing exports representing only 3.1 percent of Syria’s GDP.^[36] These issues are especially relevant as Syria’s population is predicted to more than double to over 34 million by 2050.^[37] There have been mild economic sanctions (the Syria Accountability Act) applied by the United States which further complicate the situation. Of major importance are the negotiations for a free trade association agreement with the European Union.

Human rights[link]

Billboard with portrait of Assad and the text God protects Syria on the old city wall of Damascus 2006

A 2007 law required internet cafes to record all the comments users post on chat forums.^[38] Websites such as Wikipedia Arabic, YouTube and Facebook were blocked intermittently between 2008 and February 2011.^[39][40][41]

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have detailed how Bashar's regime and secret police routinely tortured, imprisoned, and killed political opponents, and those who speak out against the regime.^[42][43]

Since 2006 it expanded the use of travel bans against dissidents, a practice that is illegal under international law.^{[citation needed]} In that regard, Syria is the worst offender among Arab states.^[44]

In an interview with ABC News in 2007^[32] he stated: "We don't have such [things as] political prisoners," yet the New York Times reported the arrest of 30 political prisoners in Syria in December 2007.^[45]

Foreign Policy magazine editorialized on his position in the wake of the 2011 protests:^[46]

During its decades of rule... the Assad family developed a strong political safety net by firmly integrating the military into the regime. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, seized power after rising through the ranks of the Syrian armed forces, during which time he established a network of loyal Alawites by installing them in key posts. In fact, the military, ruling elite, and ruthless secret police are so intertwined that it is now impossible to separate the Assad regime from the security establishment.... So... the regime and its loyal forces have been able to deter all but the most resolute and fearless oppositional activists. In this respect, the situation in Syria is to a certain degree comparable to Saddam Hussein’s strong Sunni minority rule in Iraq.

Foreign relations[link]

Assad with Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Assad's first official foreign trip was to meet Jacques Chirac in France, who had warm relations with him. The Middle Eastern Quarterly noted that "As in the case of Iraq, there are lingering questions of Syrian payments to French politicians. Many French politicians join associations and charitable boards both for financial and political gain."^[47]

The United States, European Union, the March 14 Alliance, Israel, and France accuse Assad of providing practical support to militant groups active against Israel and against opposition political groups. The latter category would include most political parties other than Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.^[48] According to MEMRI, Assad claimed the United States could benefit from the Syrian experience in fighting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood at the Hama Massacre.^[49]

Assad opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a long-standing animosity between the Syrian and Iraqi governments. Assad used Syria's seat in one of rotating positions on the United Nations Security Council to try to prevent the invasion of Iraq.^[50] Following the Iraq invasion by US and allied forces, Assad was accused of supporting the Iraqi insurgency. A US general accused him of providing funding, logistics, and training to Iraqi and foreign Muslims to launch attacks against U.S. and allied forces occupying Iraq.^[51]

Former President of Brazil Lula da Silva and Bashar al Assad

The February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the accusation of Syrian involvement and support for anti-Israeli groups, helped precipitate a crisis in relations with the United States. Assad was criticised for Syria's presence in Lebanon which ended in 2005, and the U.S. placed sanctions upon Syria partly because of this. At Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005, Assad shook hands with the Israeli president Moshe Katsav.

In the Arab world, Assad mended relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization but relations with many Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, have been deteriorating. This is in part due to Assad's continued intervention in Lebanon and his alliance with Iran. Around the time of the 2008 South Ossetia war, Assad made an official visit to Russia. In an interview with the Russian TV channel Vesti, he asserted that one cannot separate the events in the Caucasus from the US presence in Iraq, which he condemned as a direct threat to [Syria's] security."

After the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, many media outlets accused Syria of being involved.^{[citation needed]} as Hariri was anti-Syrian. However, Assad argued that Syria's gradual withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, beginning in 2000, was precipitated as a result of the event and ended in May 2005.^[52]

In 2011, Assad told the Wall Street Journal that he considered himself "anti-Israel" and "anti-West", and that because of these policies he was not in danger of being overthrown.^[31]

Involvement in Lebanon[link]

Despite gaining re-election in 2007, al-Assad’s position was considered by some to have been weakened by the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following the Cedar Revolution in 2005. There has also been pressure from the U.S. concerning claims that Syria is linked to terrorist networks, exacerbated by Syrian condemnation of the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah military leader, in Damascus in 2008. Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed stated that, "Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people.”^[53]

Arab-Israeli conflict[link]

In a speech about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict in August 2006, Bashar al-Assad said that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory," hailing its actions as a "successful resistance."^[54] He claimed that Arab resistance was growing stronger, and warned Israel that "your warplanes, rockets, and your atomic bomb will not protect you in the future." He called Israel an enemy with whom no peace could be achieved as long as they and their allies (especially the U.S.) support the practice of preemptive war. In the same speech, he also called Arab leaders that have criticized Hezbollah "half-men."

In April 2008, Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008, by a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the Golan Heights is being discussed. Assad was quoted in The Guardian as telling the Qatari paper:

. . . there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only party qualified to sponsor any direct talks, [Assad] told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have the vision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything."^[55]

According to leaked American cables, Bashar al Assad called Hamas an "uninvited guest" and said "If you want me to be effective and active, I have to have a relationship with all parties. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, but we have to deal with the reality of their presence.", comparing Hamas to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which was crushed by his father Hafez al Assad. He then claimed Hamas would disappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.^[56][57]

Assad has indicated that the peace treaty that he envisions would not be the same kind of peace treaty Israel has with Egypt where there is a legal border crossing and open trade. In a 2006 interview with Charlie Rose, Assad said “There is a big difference between talking about a peace treaty and peace. A peace treaty is like a permanent ceasefire. There’s no war, maybe you have an embassy, but you actually won’t have trade, you won’t have normal relations because people will not be sympathetic to this relation as long as they are sympathetic with the Palestinians: half a million who live in Syria and half a million in Lebanon and another few millions in other Arab countries.”^[58]

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in 2001, Bashar al-Assad requested an apology to Muslims for the medieval Crusades and criticised Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Comparing their suffering to that believed to have been endured by Jesus Christ in Palestine, Assad claimed that the Jews "tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad."^{[59][60][61][62][63]} Responding to claims that his comment was antisemitic, Assad said that whereas Judaism is a racially heterogeneous religion, the Syrian people are the core of the Semitic race and therefore are opposed to the term antisemitism. When offered to retract his comment implying that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' suffering, Assad replied, "As always, these are historical facts that we cannot deny," and stressed that his remarks were not anti-Jewish.^[64] In February 2011 Bashar backed an initiative to restore 10 synagogues in Syria, which had a Jewish community numbering 30,000 in 1947 but has only 200 Jews today.^[65]

2011–2012 uprising[link]

Following anti-government demonstrations in some other Middle Eastern countries, protests in Syria started on 26 January 2011. Protesters called for political reforms and the re-instatement of civil rights, as well as an end to the state of emergency which had been in place since 1963.^[66] One attempt at a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February 2011, though it ended uneventfully.^[67][68] Protests on 18–19 March were the largest to take place in Syria for decades and the Syrian authority responded with violence against its protesting citizens.

On 18 May 2011, Barack Obama, the U.S. President, signed an Executive order putting into effect sanctions against Bashar al-Assad in an effort to pressure his government "to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people."^[69] The sanctions effectively freeze any of the Syrian President's assets either in the United States proper or within U.S. jurisdiction.^[70] On May 23, 2011 EU Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add President Assad and nine other officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes.^[71] On May 24, 2011 Canada imposed sanctions on Syrian leaders, including President Assad.^[72]

On 20 June 2011, in a speech lasting nearly an hour, in response to the demands of protesters and foreign pressure, al-Assad promised a national dialogue involving movement toward reform, new parliamentary elections, and greater freedoms. He also urged refugees to return home from Turkey, while assuring them amnesty and blaming all unrest on a small number of saboteurs.^[73]

In August 2011, Syrian security forces attacked the country's best-known political cartoonist, Ali Farzat, a noted critic of Syria's government and its five-month crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators and dissent. Relatives of the severely beaten humorist told Western media that the attackers threatened to break Farzat's bones as a warning for him to stop drawing cartoons of government officials, particularly the president, Bashar al-Assad. Ferzat, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, was hospitalized with fractures in both hands and blunt force trauma to the head.^[74][75]

By the end of January 2012, it was reported that over 5,000 civilians and protesters had been killed by the Syrian army, militia (Shabeeha) and security agents, while 1,100 people had been killed by the anti-regime forces.^[76]

On 10 January 2012, Assad gave a speech in which he accused the uprising of being plotted by foreign countries and claimed that "victory [was] near". He also said that the Arab League, by suspending Syria, revealed that it was no longer Arab. However, al-Assad also said the country would not "close doors" to an Arab-brokered solution if "national sovereignty" was respected. He also said a referendum on a new constitution could be held in March.^[77]

Bashar and Asma al-Assad

On 27 February 2012, Syria claimed that a referendum on an update to the nations constitution, hailed as 'a showpiece of reform' received 90% support. The referendum imposes a fourteen year cumulative term limit for the president of Syria. The referendum has been claimed as meaningless by foreign nations including the US and Turkey, and the European Union announced fresh sanctions against key regime figures.^[78]

Personal life[link]

Assad speaks English and basic conversational French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyah school in Damascus. In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras,^[79] a British citizen of Syrian origin, from Acton, London.^[80] On 3 December 2001, they became the parents of their first-born child, named Hafez after the child's grandfather Hafez al-Assad. Zein was born on 5 November 2003, and Karim on 16 December 2004.

See also[link]

	Syria portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal

• Cabinet of Syria
• List of current heads of state and government

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

• Blanford, Nicholas (2006). Killing Mr Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East. I. B. Taurus & Co.. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-184-511-8|978-184-511-8]]. 
• Lane, Jan-Erik; Redissi, Hamadi (2004). Religion And Politics: Islam And Muslim Civilisation. Ashagate Publiching Company. ISBN 0-7546-4167-8. 
• Leverett, Flynt L. (2005). Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial By Fire. Brookings Institution. ISBN 978-0-8157-5204-2. 
• Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-32109-2. 
• Ma'oz, Moshe; Gian, Joseph; Winckler, Onn (1999). Modern Syria: From Ottoman Rule to Pivotal Role in the Middle East. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-898723-83-4. 
• Tucker, Spencer C. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-841-5. 
• Zisser, Eyal (2007). Commanding Syria: Bashar Al-Asad And the First Years in Power. I. B. Tauris & Co.. ISBN 978-1-84511-153-3. 

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bashar al-Assad

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bashar al-Assad

• Official website
  • Biography, decrees, speeches, interviews, press releases
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Bashar al-Assad on Charlie Rose
  • Transcript of 2010 conversation
• Bashar al-Assad at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Bashar al-Assad in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary at Ha'aretz
• Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post
• Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Bashar al-Assad at the Notable Names Database
• Profile at the LookLex Encyclopedia
• Unofficial website
• Unofficial website with CV, Speeches, Pictures and Mideast Just Peace

Articles

• Syria’s Proxy Forces in Iraq^{[dead link]}, Al-Hayat (London), 12 April 2003 at Middle East Intelligence Bulletin
• Profile: Syria's Bashar al-Assad BBC News, 10 March 2005
• Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon Gamble, William Harris, Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2005
• Assad on the Brink, David Hirst, The Nation, 21 November 2005
• Syria's Leaders, Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 10 March 2006
• Connecting the dots in Lebanon, Omar Raad, Ya Libnan Volunteer, 2 December 2006
• The Assad Dynasty in Syria: From Father to Son, Kristin Helberg, Deutsche Welle, 2009 at qantara.de
• Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, The Wall Street Journal, 31 January 2011
• Profile: Bashar al-Assad, Al Jazeera English, 25 March 2011

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