Farhan the fool, has suggested that those who want to understand the politics of Syria should read These exerts from Syria's embassador in Washington, Dr. Imad Mustapha speach at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, this past December, and those from Soner Caqabtay, director of Turkey Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policies, artlicle:"Republic of Caution".
Farhan, claims that after you finish reading, it is a no brainer, the earth is after all flat.

Imad Mustapha:

“I am not claiming today that Syria today is a full fledged Democracy, but please do remember that democracy is unattainable Ideal in which people or nations move towards”

“Today in Syria we have a one party system, but it is not a one party system full stop. We have made a strategic decision. It has already been taken and it will be implemented in the near future…six months ago, the ruling party of Syria, the bath party, made a decision that it will allow a multiparty system in Syria as from right now, and a new law, a draft law is already been circulating in Damascus allowing the free formation of political parties in Syria. And this is the first necessary step allowing multiparty elections,

“Most spectators would say that if free elections take place today in Syria, the most probable outcome would be that fundamentalists groups will win the majorities in elections, it does not mean that because this is the case then we should not move towards democracy, what we want to do is revitalize the civil society in Syria. And I could tell you that at least in the past two or three years the margin of civil liberties has expanded considerably in Syria, and if you read sometimes that Syria is a rouge state, police, or authoritarian state. I would say to you don’t believe it, I am not saying that Syria is a democracy today, I am saying that the political system in Syria is opening up and inviting for more and more political participation by the political spectrum in Syria."

“The new law that would allow for the formation of political parties in Syria is 180 degrees different from the electoral law in Iraq....We said, no party can be formed in Syria, unless it is a party of national agenda, not ethnic or religious agenda”

“Please do remember that Syria has a good record on women empowerment, for the past 50 years, since independence women enjoyed equal rights to men in Syria… also Syria enjoys unparallel religious freedom….”

Soner Cagaptay :

"The Baath regime in Syria is no longer about socialism or Arab nationalism of the 1970s. Rather, this is a regime interested in maintaining its monopoly of Syria's wealth through a network of intertwined military and economic posts. Corruption is the largest sector of the Syrian economy, ahead of industry and tourism," explained one Western diplomat whom I met in Damascus"

"In Aleppo, the country's second largest city, I was told that the town's previous mayor owned eight brand new Mercedes cars, despite earning an official salary of $500 per month."

"Across the country, I heard similar stories. Syria is not quite a republic of fear, where people are afraid to talk about the government...Syrians freely criticize the Baath regime on issues ranging from corruption to the failure to deliver prosperity"

"A waiter at a small roadside restaurant near Homs, a conservative Sunni Arab city, testified to this fact. He said that Syria's intelligence apparatus, the mukhabbarat, has pulled out of the streets. "Accordingly, people feel free to talk about the regime in ways not possible a few years ago," he said, but then hedged his statement. "We know the mukhabbarat has only taken one step back. In other words, if we were to act, they would quickly come back to crush any opposition."

"Hence, even if the Syrians are no longer afraid of the Baath party, they are, nevertheless, cautious."

"the Baath regime is preventing liberal intellectuals from channeling popular discontent into organized dissent. Independent thinkers are harassed and intimated on a daily basis. I was told by a diplomat that outspoken liberals are jailed if they develop a habit of meeting Westerners.
With no access to the government-run media, liberals are unable to reach out to the Syrian people. Accordingly, they are unknown outside of the intellectual and expatriate circles of Damascus.

"With liberals in jail and the notable families out of politics, Islamists are flourishing, using existing networks, such as mosques and charities, to appeal to people who are fed up with the Baath regime. The Muslim Brotherhood's rhetoric of "clean religious government" is attracting many supporters, particularly in desert towns such as Deir-Zor, and the Sunni heartland.

"Supporters of democracy in Syria are between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the regime is oppressing them; on the other hand, the Islamists are growing because they are able to avoid the government's steel claw from the security of their mosques and charities. So long as the regime refuses to make political room for the liberals and the notables, the discontent of the Syrian people will continue to energize the Islamist movements.

"If there were free elections in Syria, the Baath would not get more than 10 percent of the vote," said a cab driver in Aleppo. If things stay as they are, the Baath might as well deliver Syria on a silver tray to the Islamists. "To us, Islamists are lesser of the two evils. Better them than the West," said a senior Baath official in Damascus.

Note:

the Washington Institute for Near East Policies, is the most prominant jewish funded think-tank in washington D.C.

On the other hand, Dr. Imad Mustapha represent the view of of the Syrian goverment.