• Research
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie India logoCarnegie lettermark logo
AI
{
  "authors": [
    "Marwan Muasher"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "russia",
  "programs": [
    "Russia and Eurasia",
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "United States",
    "Middle East",
    "Syria",
    "Levant"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Security",
    "Military",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

Military Strike in Syria Will Not Lead to A Political Process

A military strike in Syria will not result in changing the parameters of the conflict and will not result in President Assad agreeing to a political process.

Link Copied
By Marwan Muasher
Published on Sep 4, 2013

Source: BBC World News

As Washington debates over approving a U.S. military strike in Syria, Carnegie’s Marwan Muasher told BBC World News that the military strike has no clear objectives, will not result in changing the parameters of the conflict, and will not result in President Assad agreeing to a political process. While President Obama and French President François Hollande have argued that a strike would degrade the regime’s ability for a chemical attack, Muasher maintained that it would not do much to the regime itself “which has shown no mercy in killing its own citizens.”

"I think what is needed is a political process rather than more suffering for the Syrian people," he said, highlighting that majority of Arab public opinion is against Assad and against a military strike which they do not see as part of the solution. “We have to find a process other than a military strike, which is not going to involve boots on the ground, which is not going to result in changing the game. We have to find a political process before it is too late,” Muasher concluded.

This interview was originally aired on BBC World News.

About the Author

Marwan Muasher

Vice President for Studies

Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at Carnegie, where he oversees research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications.

    Recent Work

  • Q&A
    The Myriad Problems With the Iran Ceasefire
      • Andrew Leber
      • Eric Lob
      • +1

      Amr Hamzawy, Andrew Leber, Eric Lob, …

  • Commentary
    The Iran War Is Uncovering the Weakness in U.S.-Gulf Ties

      Marwan Muasher

Marwan Muasher
Vice President for Studies
Marwan Muasher
Political ReformSecurityMilitaryForeign PolicyUnited StatesMiddle EastSyriaLevant

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie India

  • Paper
    Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with China

    After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.

      Saheb Singh Chadha

  • Article
    Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026

    This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.

      Vrinda Sahai

  • Article
    India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways

    A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.

      Rajiv Bhatia

  • Commentary
    The Unresolved Challenges in U.S.–India Semiconductor Cooperation

    The U.S.–India semiconductor cooperation story is well-stocked with top-level strategic intent. What remains unresolved, however, are some underlying challenges that will determine whether the cooperation actually functions. Three such friction points stand out.

      Shruti Mittal

  • Commentary
    Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTA

    The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is shaping up to be one of the most consequential trade negotiations, both economically and strategically. But, what’s in the agreement, what’s missing, and what will determine its success in the years ahead

      Vrinda Sahai, Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie India
Carnegie India logo, white
Unit C-4, 5, 6, EdenparkShaheed Jeet Singh MargNew Delhi – 110016, IndiaPhone: 011-40078687
  • Research
  • About
  • Experts
  • Projects
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie India
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.