In foreign policy, Obama learns on the job - David Ignatius
►http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-foreign-policy-obama-learns-on-the-job/2012/05/10/gIQAHSJ4FU_story.html
On Syria, the other Middle East tinderbox, Obama knows that Kofi Annan’s peace effort is failing because of the former U.N. secretary general’s inability to halt violence and begin the transition from President Bashar al-Assad. Obama knows that Russia is the key to avoiding a civil war, but he doesn’t think the Russians will commit to oust Assad unless they’re convinced that he can’t govern and that only a new government will contain extremism in Syria. Like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Obama thinks parts of the Syrian opposition would be worse than Assad — and he worries that the protracted struggle is empowering precisely these people.