Bashir Assad Quotes
We have more difficult circumstances than most of the Arab countries but in spite of that Syria is stable. Why? Because you have to be very closely linked to the beliefs of the people. This is the core issue.
Assad, Bashar al-. Interview by Jay Solomon and Bill Spindle. The Wall Street Journal, 31 Jan. 2011.
The President was referring to the lasting divisions in the country over the Vietnam war. “Sundered” means separated into parts.
Dictators like Bashir view protests and demonstrations as threats to stability of the nation. The statement is code for “Stop the demonstrations, because stability is more important than reform.
The “Boxer Rebellion” was a very strong, populist, violent movement in China at the turn of the Century. The hostility was not directed against the Empress or the Government, but against the non-Chinese foreigners who were, theoretically and by treaty, under the protection of the Chinese Government. Cixi and the government had to decide to Crack Down on the Boxers, Support them, or remain passive. The movement was so strong and the government so weak, that is was not clear that the government could prevail in what would amount to a civil war. The Empress in effect vetoed the crackdown option on the grounds stated. With this quotation she made a fateful decision for China and the Foreigners and for her own legacy. She had been considered by Westerners one of the great rulers of the world of not of all time, and she was in many ways. But she made the wrong choice from the Western point of view; thousands of Westerners became casualties of the Boxer irrational xenophobic violence with the government doing little to stop it. Soon, she herself came to regret this policy decision--{641730}.
Bashar Hafez al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current President of Syria, holding the office since 17 July 2000. He is also commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, General Secretary of the ruling Ba'ath Party and Regional Secretary of the party's branch in Syria.
