November 12, 2012
The failure of a recent four-day cease-fire in Syria couldn’t have surprised U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. Having mediated in Lebanon and Afghanistan, the veteran Algerian diplomat knows that a civil war ends only when the parties want a solution as much as the mediator does. And as proved by the fierce fighting that has raged across the country, neither the regime of President Bashar Assad nor Syria’s rebels is ready to end the conflict.
This mini-article (barely enough to fill a page) fills the issue with more details. A cease-fire failed (held only because of a religious holiday, ‘Id al-Adha) because both the Assad regime and the rebels are not satisfied.
Between talks and discussions, there is no easy compromise to be found. In terms of military strength, both sides are also at a stalemate; neither is more powerful than the other.
The article goes on to say that not only Syria has been affected, but also other nations in the Middle East—not to mention those in the U.N.
Even though the article, yet again, brings up the election, the article manages to bring the issue back to its worldly impact, and not just bring up the States’ involvement in the matter.
Overall, the magazine medium is thorough in its coverage of a story, and yet brief.
