I don't believe in regime change, certainly not in the Middle East.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
You in the West have been sold the idea that the only options in the Arab world are between authoritarian regimes and Islamic jihadists. That's obviously bogus.
It is no secret that many Islamic movements in the Middle East tend to be authoritarian, and some of the so-called 'Islamic regimes' such as Saudi Arabia, Iran - and the worst case was the Taliban in Afghanistan - they are pretty authoritarian. No doubt about that.
The Iraqi war has transformed the Middle East.
The situation of any leader in the Middle East is not easy.
Put simply, the Bush administration policy in the Middle East is continuing to fail.
One of the lessons learned in the Middle East is to never try to anticipate the other side's moves.
As far as we are concerned, we Syria have not changed.
You know that we are not in the regime-change game. We are against interference in domestic conflicts.
Certainly we've seen the enormous changes across the whole of the Middle East. The democratic genie is out of the bottle.
I don't think it's hypothetical whether or not it's a good idea to topple secular dictators in the Middle East and hope to get a good outcome and hope that stability comes thereafter.