Word: syria
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...many U.S. embassies in the Arab world that have been forced by security concerns to move from the center of capital cities to fortress-like suburban compounds, the Damascus embassy still occupies prime real estate - just a stone's throw from the residence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's much feared state-security apparatus keeps close tabs on everyone entering and leaving the embassy; it also helps keeps the embassy relatively safe from the occasional jihadist sneak attack. In turn, living close to the Americans may help Assad sleep more easily at night, say Damascene wags, because...
...Although the U.S. still accuses Syria of supporting militant groups in the region, the appointment of a new ambassador is recognition of a new spirit of partial cooperation from Damascus. Since the waning days of the Bush era, Syria has helped tighten its border with Iraq to prevent jihadists from crossing; it has for the first time recognized Lebanon's sovereignty by opening an embassy in Beirut (Damascus has traditionally regarded its neighbor as a Syrian province illegitimately turned into a separate entity by France in the wake of World War I); and it has regularly called for direct peace...
...Syria, the return of an American ambassador is a much desired signal that the U.S. needs Syria to help stabilize Iraq, keep the peace in Lebanon and solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Syrians like to think of their country as the crossroads of the Middle East; they grew worried when Damascus simply fell off the itinerary of most major world players. More worrying is the country's dismal neo-Soviet-style economy, which needs reform and foreign investment if it is to create enough jobs for the country's young, growing and restless population...
...with Arab and Central Asian countries. Asserting a foreign policy increasingly independent of Washington, Turkey has not hesitated to criticize Israel's actions against the Palestinians, defend Iran's nuclear program and expand economic ties at a moment when the U.S. seeks to isolate Tehran, and repair relations with Syria. Israel's leaders warn publicly that they believe Turkey is moving into the region's Islamist orbit, and hard-liners within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government appear to have been spoiling for a fight...
...past six months, Turkey has scrapped visa requirements for Lebanon, Jordan and Syria and signed a raft of agreements with each country designed to improve trade and cultural exchange. Since publicly chastising Israeli President Shimon Peres over Gaza at a conference in Switzerland last January, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become a hero on Arab streets, and the latest diplomatic spat with Israel won't do his popularity any harm. Beirut daily Al Akhbar's headline on the Ayalon apology story praised "Sultan Erdogan" and exalted that "Israel understands only Turkish...