Pundit

Top of the Agenda: Syrian Forces Continue to Target Homs

Syrian security forces continued a deadly assault on opposition strongholds and civilian areas in the restive central city of Homs, even as the government lauded the 90 percent approval of a constitutional referendum held on Monday. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay called for an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire" (al-Jazeera) at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, amid mounting international pressure on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, a wounded British photographer was smuggled from Homs to neighboring Lebanon, and unconfirmed reports suggested a wounded French journalist was also evacuated from Syria.

Analysis

"By militarizing the political contest in Syria, Assad has effectively created a sectarian civil war that presents the Syrian population with stark choices that work in his favor. And the more intense and protracted the military conflict becomes, the greater the danger that the de facto leadership of the rebellion passes to more extreme and sectarian elements--which, of course, reinforces Assad's own hold on his core support," writes TIME's Tony Karon.

"The Free Syrian Army, a growing force of defectors from the government's army, would set up these no-kill zones near the Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders. Each zone should be established as close to the border as possible to allow the creation of short humanitarian corridors for the Red Cross and other groups to bring food, water and medicine in and take wounded patients out," writes Anne-Marie Slaughter in the New York Times.

"Once we commit ourselves to creating safe havens ("no-kill zones"), we will be obliged to defend them for as long as there is any possibility that Assad's forces might attack. As our experience with the no-fly zones in Iraq teaches, this could involve defending them for years. And if Assad's forces start shelling the rebel areas, then we will have to defend them or risk humiliation," writes Foreign Policy's Stephen M. Walt.

PACIFIC RIM

Report Calls for Less Government Control Over China's Economy

A new joint study by the World Bank and a Chinese government research organization suggests that China's economic model is unsustainable, and calls on Beijing to transition to a market economy (NYT) or risk reduced growth over the coming decades.

SOUTH KOREA: The main opposition party called for dialogue with North Korea's new leader (Yonhap), Kim Jong-un, while criticizing the government's tough sanctions policy towards Pyongyang in the wake of the North's deadly attacks on South Korean targets in 2010.

This CFR Crisis Guide provides an interactive, multimedia overview to the ongoing dispute between North and South Korea.

ELSEWHERE:

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This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.