lavelle asks his guests whether we are witnessing a civil war in syria and who will lead the country of assad quits cross-talk is next. we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from. the future of coverage. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle series growing cycle of violence is this country the state of quasi civil war or about to start a civil war if this current regime falls from power what could replace it and how should the international community. crosstalk syria's future i'm joined by mark levine in washington he's a senior fellow with the truman national security project and a talk radio host in cambridge we crossed to george joffe he is a research fellow at king's college london and in detroit we go to me he is a journalist and political analyst all right folks crosstalk rules in effect that means that you can jump in anytime you want and i really encourage it but first let's see how the world has been reacting to events in syria. as protests in syria continue unabated up to three thousand people most of whom are civilians are already thought to have died in

assad's government attacking protesters when they see some of these protesters obviously appear to be armed. well i think the short answer is that at the moment the majority of people demonstrating are unarmed ok and so you can argue that it's a peaceful demonstration but the problem is that you're quite right. amongst the demonstrators in some parts of the country the demonstrations have really been armed and there have been massacres and security forces as well so the problem is whether or not the demonstrations overall do become the. and should that occur then i think the outcome in syria is going to be very bloody indeed ok mark if i can go to you would you would you call this a civil war that it's beginning maybe a civil war now in its war that could just continue to develop over time because it looks like the assad government regime is not going to give up very easily it's shown that well it's true the government represents a tiny minority alawite population in syria and to that extent that the majority sunni is one have a voice in their country it could become a civil war right

opting instead for sanctions and rhetorical orations i think that increasingly are saying president assad. lose legitimacy in the eyes of his people and that's why we've been working at an international level to make sure that. we keep the pressure up to see if we can bring some real change in syria but i like made us aerial campaign in libya syrian protesters have been largely left to fend for themselves and that despite syrian protesters calls on the international community to interfere the syrian people cool on the united nations to adopt a resolution to set up a permanent mission in syria and yet there's been no u.n. resolution of the sorts experts say one of the reasons for the lack of action is president bashar assad's military arsenal which far outweighs that of low market dollface some politicians such as france's foreign minister have also pointed the finger at russia which opposed foreign intervention in libya and is likely to agree to a un resolution of condemnation against the syrian government. objectivity in a resolution security council condemning the use of violence agains

escalation of the syrian conflict is all discussion in peter lavelle show what happens if bashar al assad quits this post ed do people really want him to quit will these and more questions coming up in crosstalk. well see british science. is no time to write for. markets why no scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy is a report on our t.v. . and. below and you're welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle series growing cycle of violence is this country the state of quasi civil war or about to start a civil war if this current regime falls from power what could replace it and how should the international community. to cross-talk syria's future i'm joined by mark levine in washington he's a senior fellow with the truman national security project and a talk radio host in cambridge we crossed to george joffe he is a research fellow at king's college london and in detroit we go to me he is a journalist and political analyst all right folks crosstalk rules in effect that means that you can jump in anytime you want and i really encourage it but first let's see how the worl

resolution of sorts experts say one of the reasons for the lack of action is president bashar assad's military arsenal which far outweighs that of low market fees some politicians such as france's foreign minister have also pointed the finger at russia which of course foreign intervention in libya and there's likely to be a un resolution of condemnation against the syrian government. resolution the security council condemning the use of violence against civilians and organizing your regime of sanctions it's a hard struggle we cannot give up but most importantly the syrian question seems to be about a clash of competing interests over syria is that person i think and religious make up so far the struggle for reform in the embattled country has resembled the playing field for regional powers like saudi arabia turkey and iran with few in the west willing to provoke the latter russia china for across our team. ok first i'd like to start with george in cambridge the mainstream media is looking at syria is just the slaughter of innocent civilians innocent protesters but a little bit deeper

alone i think assad stays just like a darfur and let's hope the pressure assad is next in line they've overthrown khadafi they're going to have a proxy or client government in tripoli the next step is syria they want to overthrow syria next to take advantage of any movement that exists in syria to overthrow the assad government now they have a more democratic government a more humane government but a government that is allied with the united states and after syria the next target will be iran itself watching regimes go down one by one american politicians are filled with new hopes and aspirations some went as far as to predict the arab spring will spread all across the world what this is all about is the arab spring and bashar assad is next and even places like china russia and other places they are very uneasy this is about people aspiring for freedom and that's what the libyan people are just and she. it's wishful thinking on the part of john mccain but it speaks volumes to where the real orientation is in washington not just of the republicans but the democrats too so they would lik

and its western european allies are pushing for action against president assad's regime which they've already found. sanctions in general do not but because countries always lie in ways to go around the sanctions and saw that sanctions would slide only eleven to tie and go on with production of oil although they would give the banning of importation so it's not quite logical and most probably syria would find different outlets for where it's viable in every single one of these situations is every time that the west or other countries talk about

to overthrow the assad government not to have a more democratic government a more humane government but a government that is allied with the united states of america is grabbing the bull by the horns this as the country uses the arab spring to cultivate revolution and launch longtime enemies or wither away but is a grass is always greener on the other side well think of asia times correspondent am. a really is so much more mission based and for trial it's about their brothers and sisters and executing the task that they've been given. ok. anderson this is no laughing matter mainstream news outlets providing comic relief for the joke monsters and not that hard hitting journalist so what's with this whole world for sale and what's next for t.v. . they're taking the same risks with investor you know investors' money to pozieres money that they were taken before and why because they know they'll be bailed out if there's a problem now doesn't the u.s. government know what happens if you give a mouse a cookie so three years after the collapse of lehman brothers has anything really changed or

urging assad to step down saying he should be given more time to push through reforms anti-government demonstrations and flared up in march with at least twenty six hundred people reportedly killed in clashes and with michel chossudovsky says the russian delegation faces a tough task in syria with the opposition being extremely diversified. any kind of military intervention in syria immediately leads to a scenario escalation and this is something which hopefully will be addressed by the russian delegation and its discussions with the syrian authorities first of all we must clarify what is the opposition there's an opposition within the syrian civil society which operates within the confines of the law and which has also dialogue with the go about event isn't and such and see which is funded and supported by outside forces. launched integrated by islamists it's a job as this as well as muslim brotherhood. and consequently this insurgency is there to destabilize to create a pretext for responsibility to protect nato intervention in syria. washington was quick to support the revolutions

there is no way bashir assad can do this by himself and he is not receiving any proper assistance from the united states or any european power that would be able to offer conflict resolution sanctions are not the answer sanctions only hurt the syrian people but. if bashar assad will would be wise he would quickly invite a russian delegation to come in and help the syrian government resolve this problem the west though want sanctions the west thinks that sanctions are the way forward to try and force the syrian government stands you're saying categorically you think that is not the way to go. syria sanctions freeze the situation so that diplomacy is stalled it never works it is a bad bad strategy and it means that they lack ideas for advancing problem solving the syrian people need real changes and real reforms and someone need a third party mediation is critical to helping bashar assad's government go forward . i had the advantage of working with the syrian diplomats at the united nations and we all knew that in a time of crisis. governments begin to become paralyzed of course they mak

dealing with the president give also called on both the assad government and the opposition to bring about the ends of violence in the country with. the resolutions we would approve to send a strong message to the syrian regime should be addressed to both sides things aren't just black and white. as in syria are not followers of some refined european democracy some of them to put it straight extremists and. terrorists situation is not that simple and we have to take into account the balance of different forces and interests russia may support certain moves but only if they don't boil down to the one sided condemnation of the government and president assad we should send a strong message calling on all the conflicting parties to come to the negotiating table start talks and stop the bloodshed. russia has opposed the sanctions that it be put in place in syria including the most recent ones imposing it. saying that more time should be given to the assad government to achieve the promises made to bring about change in the country though president medvedev mentioned that negotiation is im

his meeting with a delegation of syrian opposition leaders in moscow they blame president bashar al assad for the political deadlock in syria saying he's making the same mistakes as libya's and battle reader colonel gadhafi moscow however promises to do its best to avert a live scenario in syria telling both sides of the conflict that it's time to move from the battlefield to the negotiating table president medvedev made this position clear in his latest interview peter all of the main points. president medvedev has warned against viewing the situation in syria in terms of good. seeing the careful consideration must be paid to the elements within the syrian opposition before the international community jumps to dealing with them now the president did have also called on both the assad government and the opposition to bring about an end supply lines in the country with. the resolutions we would approve to send a strong message to the syrian regime should in fact be addressed to both sides things are just black and white you know the anti-government protesters in syria are not followers of

assad regime has gone too far and needs to pull back.ventually, this will come around at some point, but it could take a while. >> have they gone so far that they really can't come back? it's now the only option is out and when do you see this coming to some kind of head here for the government? >> all right. well, the syrian family, if you will, the syrian regime represented in the assad family, it seems that they are just digging in their heel. they're not interested in any equation or they would be out. they did not even get the lesson from what happened with gadhafi in libya. they feel that they can survive this and they feel somehow the world will change their mind, they will change the subject one way or another. iran still continues to support them. russia and china still continue to encourage them, in effect, by not having them, you know, scrutinized as supposed to be and then you have countries like brazil, which is changing its mind, india, south africa, that have given them the idea that yes, they can be protected if they go o

urging assad to step down saying he should be given more time to push through reforms. in moscow has reiterated its deep concern over america's plans to base parts of its missile defense shield in poland some of which could be in place by twenty eighteen russia is calling for urgent talks with nato saying that the u.s. program is stuck in the past plans for putting missiles and polish soil follow separate deal sealed this week for the rain yet and turkey who also agreed to host sections of the system where the u.s. insists it's designed to counter possible attacks from states such as iran and north korea but russia sees the plans as a direct threat to its security and have proposed building a joint shield instead as a gesture of needs all declined peace campaigner bruce kenyon says the sister represents america's wants to boost its influence in the region. u.s. is using nato and nato expansion as the i think the ploy of a carrot to draw you know other countries like turkey ignore me and making them feel like they're going to be taken care of by the european union. but c

including the most recent ones imposing an embargo saying that more time should be given to the assad government to achieve the promises made to bring about change in the country though president midgette is mentioned there that negotiation is important and rusher is playing its part as a mediator on friday representatives of the. the syrian opposition are in moscow for talks with top russian diplomats on monday representatives from the assad government will be here to talk to diplomats to try and bring an end to this situation in syria russia of course doesn't want to go see syria go down the same road as what happened in libya with the u.n. resolution that was imposed they're being all abused as far as russia is a source with the international intervention going well beyond the parameters laid out in the mandate they want to see negotiation to get peace if you syria. to hear president get of say interview or have cyprus r.t. dot com and there you can also find out more opinion and the timeline of the syrian uprising well now we continue our special coverage of the tenth anniversary