A young crop of leaders, all of them reformers in their own way, are already at work in Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, and Bahrain. In the immediate future it would be extremely insulting for Bashar to give away something that his father would not. I do not expect Bashar to accept anything less than the father would have. Among the many challenges Bashar faces is the poor state of the economy that has left the Arab nation far behind the technology bandwagon. An uprising by militant Muslims in early 1982 was put down with the shelling and complete destruction of the town of Hama, which left thousands dead.
Nobody is sure.
It seems things were cut off too early. Still, considering Syria's reputation for stability during Assad's reign, some argue that a peaceful transition is already under way. All the steps have been prepared already. There is a consensus here - everyone is doing everything for a peaceful, stable transition. While Syria has held firm, however, it has also become more isolated.