Continuing Impasse in Syria

I think the G8 is an important forum not only because it’s another opportunity for direct engagement at the head of state level, but also because the G8, when it met last spring in Deauville, France, was one of the first multilateral groups of major countries to enunciate a clear response to what was taking place in the Arab awakening. The G8 clearly put itself on the side of the democratic aspiration of the Arab world and issued a very strong declaration which the Russians signed on to. They talked about basic rights and freedom; they talked about the responsibility of leaders to respond their people’s aspirations; they talked about the need to support and nurture civil society. So the Russians have already signed on to all of this. The G8 summit coming around again this year is an opportunity to remind the Russians of what they’ve already committed to, with regard to these developments in the region. And even though things don’t always go as smoothly and as peacefully as they did in Tunisia, for example, that doesn’t mean that the citizens in these other countries aren’t as deserving of equal respect and support.