The Syrian infrastructure is undeveloped and primitive, with often-unsafe water, few sewers and an unreliable electricity supply. The U.S. won the Cold War by letting the Soviet empire collapse under its economic deadweight, with no military confrontation. Israel should take the same approach with Syria. Rather than hurry to accommodate Mr. Assad, Prime Minister Ehud Barak should sit back and wait for Syria to collapse. With each passing year Syria will be less capable of feeding and arming itself, and more susceptible to outside economic threats and pressures from the West.
Western states can help things along by imposing economic sanctions.
With a bit of determination, this could lead to a collapse of Mr. Assad's totalitarian regime in Syria. Steven Plaut teaches at the Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Israel. The Center's publications are intended to invigorate and enrich the debate on foreign policy and defense issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of all members of the Center's Board of Advisors.