August 8, 2012 | 2:42 am

August 8, 2012

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

A Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover during clashes with Syrian Army in central Aleppo, August 7, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

In-depth

Who Are the Muslim Brothers?

As the Muslim Brotherhood ascendance in Egypt, Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations takes a look at the organization’s power structure, which is far from monolithic. 

While there may be significant discipline among the Brothers, observers and insiders have noted a robust debate within the organization’s leading councils.  Indeed, the Brotherhood’s current power structure comes from widely differing backgrounds and experiences, suggesting anything but a uniform approach to Egypt’s present problems.

‘We have entered the phase of strategic decisions’

John Hannah of Foreign Policy reports on his visit to Israel, where he found a leadership that is resolute in the face of an increasingly turbulent neighborhood. 

Israelis realize full well that they’re in the middle of a geo-political hurricane. The pillars that have anchored their national security strategy for a generation are being washed away, swamped by a rising tide of Islamism. The Egypt of Sadat, Mubarak and Camp David is no more. Jordan, Israel’s other critical peace partner, is under enormous strain. The once vibrant military relationship with Turkey has withered. Syria is awash in blood, raising the specter of loose WMD, a jihadist safe haven, and generalized chaos on what for nearly four decades (despite the Assad regime’s enduring hostility) has been Israel’s quietist [sic] front.

US seeks smooth but unlikely transition in Syria

The US is scrambling to formulate a policy to prevent chaos in Syria after Bashar Assad’s regime falls, writes Bradley Klapper of the Associated Press. 

No workable plan that includes power-sharing arrangements, the formation of councils or minority representation has emerged in a country that is more ethnically splintered than Iraq and holds perhaps the greatest international stakes of the Arab Spring. The rebels openly scoff at the opposition’s would-be civilian leadership abroad. No single credible leader has emerged for the splintered anti-Assad movement to rally around.

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