This fascinating and insightful interview with Assad surprised me. He is well educated, thoughtful, considerate, and by any measure, politically astute.
Interviews are always of interest to me, especially if you can detect, through the answers, the uninterrupted thought stream of the interviewee, where the answers to questions are directly and effortlessly stated. Imo, that has occurred here, the result is impressive.
A Conversation with Bashar al-Assad
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/discus...esident-speaks