Syria’s pathway: From one dictatorship to another?

Despite an Arab League observer mission in Syria, there has been no let up in the bloodshed. Author and scholar Gene Sharp told RT in exclusive interview that non-violence is the only way for people to bring about democratic change.

“You get bloody mess when you get people standing up and saying we want a change because dictators don’t want to be told “We don’t love you anymore”. They do not like to be told “It is time for you to go” and they will use whatever means of control,” Sharp says.Meanwhile, reports of bloodshed in Syrian cities escalate daily.Syrian activists said Monday that government troops opened fire on protesters in the restive city of Homs, killing more than a dozen people. The UN estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since the country erupted into conflict in March.Gene Sharp says that if Arab world follows a violent path, more casualties are guaranteed. Sharp says that change can be brought out by many ways. “But what kind of change?” he asks. What Sharp warns about is that change might pave the way to new dictatorship, but not to democracy. “Change can be from dictatorship to a new dictatorship,” he concludes. Sharp believes that military intervention as an option to solve the situation in Syria will lead to chaos instead of new democratic regime in the country. Speaking about the previous bitter experience, referring to Libya, Sharp says that the US has no right to meddle in other countries' foreign affairs.“My opinion is that the US government should not be intervening military in the name of establishing democracy,” he says. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to deliver a speech on Tuesday amid unabated violence in the country. Hours later, The UN Security Council will also meet for the first time this year to discuss the situation in the embattled country.