Alex Callinicos on the Syrian revolt

The fighting bears all the hallmarks of an improvised and desperate armed rising. We can argue over whether it was wise politically for the rebels to militarise their struggle so quickly. We may regret the absence of the independent working class action that has been so important in the Egyptian revolution. But the way that its Syrian counterpart has so rapidly developed into a civil war doesn’t alter the fact that its roots lie in popular revolt.

Full article here, see also Richard Seymour and this piece looking at the social roots of the Arab Spring by Simon Assaf.