The German Spiegel has an interview up on its English-language site with Syrian President Bashar Assad. It’s well worth a read and I see Prof. Landis over at Syria Comment has it as well.

“Poverty Is a Greater Concern for Most than a Democratic Constitution”

Syrian President Bashar Assad discusses initial stabs at democracy in his country, the outlook for peace in the Middle East and Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon. And in an answer aimed at Washington, he says neither Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo nor Iraq are models for democracy.

Syrian President Bashar Assad: “We don’t care if this is the Chinese model or something else. Our actions reflect the needs of our country.”
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, there are tentative movements toward democracy here and there in the Arab world. But there is little evidence of that in Syria. Why not?

Assad: Well, it just happens that the Arab states develop at different rates and under different historical conditions. Egypt, for example, has not experienced as many coups as Syria. Besides, Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel, whereas we remain in neither a state of war nor a state of peace with Israel. Incidentally, our development only began a few years ago, so of course expectations will vary widely. But the main issue is that we in Syria have at least opened up a dialogue about it.

SPIEGEL: But it’s taking longer than many would like.

Assad: The pace of our development depends upon the challenges that we must face, which we cannot always influence. For example, we have to deal with foreign powers meddling in our internal affairs.

SPIEGEL: You mean the Americans’ demands for more democracy and for putting an end to support for terrorists?

Assad: The more meddling there is, the slower the pace of development in Syria. After all, the democratic process should pervade the entire country. Naturally, the unresolved Middle East conflict also slows down development. And then there is the question of what should be our greatest priority—political development or economic growth.

Read the rest.

A sharp man indeed. He has an answer for everything and Spiegel doesn’t let him off easy either. However, he does cleverly note that democracy is not only not the solution for Syria’s immediate problems but also not for the world’s problems with Syria, something Washington should take note of.

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