MEDIA ALERT: Western nations expel Syrian diplomats

May 29th, 2012

SYRIA â€“ Six Western governments announced the expulsion of Syrian diplomats Tuesday responding to the deaths of 108 civilians in Houla last week. The United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia have taken action. The UN and Arab League’s Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus. (Source: Bloomberg / Reuters / USA TODAY / UN News Centre).

Analysts available for comment:

	Rashid Khalidi, Ph.D. has been the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University since 2003. Khalidi is editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, and he is former President of the Middle East Studies Association, and an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington Arab-Israeli peace negotiations from October 1991 until June 1993. Additionally, he is the author of British Policy Towards Syria and Palestine, 1906-1914 (1980). CONTACT: rashid.khalidi@theglobalexperts.org Location: North America Languages: Arabic; English
	Henry Wilkinson is a recognized expert on insurgency and conflict in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, and terrorism analysis. He is the Head of Intelligence and Analysis at The Risk Advisory Group plc. Wilkinson has also acquired years of experience working directly with international organisations to help them understand and manage political and security risks. CONTACT: henry.wilkinson@theglobalexperts.org Location: West Europe Language: English
	Olivier Guillard is the Asia Research Director for the Paris-based thinktank IRIS (Institut de Relations Internationales et StratÃ©giques). Guillard is also a partner in a consulting firm (Crisis Consulting www.crisis.fr) since 2002, and Director of information, in charge with country risk assessments and crisis management in Asia, for several of the largest French firms. CONTACT: olivier.guillard@theglobalexperts.org Location: West Europe Languages: English; French
	Bertrand Badie is a French political scientist and international relations specialist at the Institut dâ€™Etudes Politiques de Paris. He has written extensively about international relations theory, focusing on globalization and the structural effects it exerts on the international system, states and societies. CONTACT: bertrand.badie@theglobalexperts.org Location: Paris, France Languages: English, French
	Gareth Evans is the former foreign minister of Australia and the former president and chief executive of International Crisis Group, an independent international non-governmental organization with over 140 staff members on five continents. Through field-based analysis and high-level policy advocacy, this agency works to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world. CONTACT: gareth.evans@theglobalexperts.org Location: Australia Language: English