Surviving Capitalism (Not) : RAND Corporation's plan for dicing up Syria

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, February 27, 2017

RAND Corporation's plan for dicing up Syria

Click here to access article from Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, translated by Tom Winter, and posted on Fort Russ.

It looks like the directors of the Empire, as found in another ruling class "think tank", have resurrected their old plan of "safe zones" in order to carve up Syria. With Turkey seemly taking another u-turn, unfortunately for Syrians this plan has a good chance of success. Not only will this plan weaken Syria, Israel's old nemesis, but will likely permit the construction of a gas pipeline from Qatar via Turkey to Europe which President Assad objected to before.

There are numerous quotes from a Rand study, but no linked reference to the study. This bothered me, so I did some online sleuthing and found what I am reasonably sure is the Rand document entitled "A Peace Plan for Syria III". Scanning the document I found one of the quotes that was in this article (fifth paragraph).

We therefore recommend that the United States propose to put Raqqa province, once liberated, under an interim international administration, thereby creating a neutral area held by neither the regime nor the opposition, pending the ultimate resolution of the civil war.