Over the weekend, Friends of Syria, an organization of 60 nations created to support the Syrian opposition, gathered in Istanbul for yet another meeting on the seemingly unending revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Thirteen months of fighting have left over more than 9,000 dead, and recent mediation efforts led by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan have failed to stop the violence.
Yet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still had a message of hope for the Syrian people: “The world will not waver,” she announced to the Friends of Syria meeting on Sunday. “Assad must go and the Syrian people must be free to choose their own path forward.” Indeed, the Istanbul meeting did conclude with real results: Arab nations promised $100 million to pay the Syrian opposition fighters and the United States promised communications equipment and another $12 million in humanitarian aid. Is that enough to help the struggling opposition? Amr Al Azm, member of the Syrian opposition and professor of history and anthropology at Shawnee State University, explains.