We don't have strong institutions. We have no anti-corruption campaign. These are anxious, heady days in a country shifting from the repressive, stagnant, socialized state created by the late president, Hafez al-Assad, to the reign of his son, Bashar. But just how he expects to do it, and at what speed, is a topic of furious debate. So far Dr. Bashar as Syrians call him has ushered in more a change in tone than substance.
Daily life remains unaltered.
But gone is the initial speculation that Dr. Bashar or more correctly Dr. Assad was just a figurehead keeping the seat warm while the Baath mandarins determined who would run the country. Today few doubt that he holds the power to rattle the old guard, which may yet try to sabotage his changes, even if Dr. Bashar does not appear inclined to dismantle the system that produced them. He wants to change it without breaking it. Debate itself constitutes significant change. Hafez al-Assad reached decisions alone and told the country when he felt like it.