Word: syria
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...many ways, Syria is an anachronism: governed by a totalitarian regime, managed by Soviet-style central planners and littered with the crumbling ruins of ancient civilizations. More recently, the Bush Administration has accused Syria of supporting anti-Israeli terrorists and tried to isolate the country. But with the Bush era winding down, Syria appears to have weathered threats of regime change--and is roaring back...
...given Thursday night--the start of the weekend in Syria--Z Bar, the rooftop nightclub at the Omayad Hotel, is packed. An instant hit with Damascus' rich and restless when it opened last summer, Z Bar provides not only a place to dance on tables Beirut-style but also a commanding view of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. "Top of Z Town" is its Pepé Le Pew--esque slogan, but everyone knows who's really on top in this town. From a hill above Z Bar, the glass façade of Bashar Assad's presidential palace looks...
...Syrian art boom is taking place amid an economic thaw. Syria began opening its economy in 2005 under pressure from U.S. sanctions; foreign investment has changed the face of the country. Once the streets of Damascus were filled with 1950s-era American auto-mobiles, kept running by trade barriers and twine; now there's a daily traffic jam of new Asian sedans and German sports cars. Superseding the capital's dictator-chic hotels from the 1970s--massive concrete towers with prostitutes in the bars and spies in the lobbies--modern boutique inns are sprouting in renovated courtyard palaces...
Beneath the froth, Syria's financial picture is still grim. Oil production--which once accounted for 90% of government revenue--is on the decline. Inflation has rendered unsustainable the food and fuel subsidies on which millions of poor Syrians depend. Enter President Assad, who Syrians hope can help attract much needed foreign investment. Once persona non grata in the West, Assad is more secure than ever at home and abroad. The violence that followed U.S. regime change in Iraq has raised his profile in a region where stability is often valued over freedom. In August, French President Nicolas Sarkozy became...
...Damascus Love Thy Neighbor In a joint statement on Oct. 15, one day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree formally recognizing Lebanese sovereignty, Syria and Lebanon formally established diplomatic ties for the first time since both nations gained their independence in the 1940s. Political and military tensions between the two countries have increased in recent years amid a string of assassinations of anti-Syrian Lebanese officials. International observers are hopeful that the normalization of relations will help bring stability to the region...