Hezbollah’s quiet discontent

Hezbollah’s silence on the unprecedented developments in neighboring Syria betrays a growing unease over the outcome of the uprising and the strategic ramifications of a collapse of the Assad regime. If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is toppled it could fundamentally reshape the strategic balance of the Middle East and present stark challenges to the Lebanese group and its Iranian patron. At the end of April it appeared evident that Damascus was pinning its hopes on maintaining the status quo through force against the protestors rather than ushering in meaningful reforms. It has long been axiomatic among some analysts that reforming the system in Syria would weaken the regime’s grip on the country and spell the demise of the Assad family’s rule. Syria plays a key role in the so-called ‘Jabhatal-Muqawama’, or ‘Resistance Front’, which groups countries and militant organizations opposed to Israel and the American policy in the Middle East.