Paul Danahar

Paul Danahar, the BBC's Middle East bureau chief (2010-2013) and the author of The New Middle East: The World After the Arab Spring, discusses his book and the current politics in the region.

→EVENT: Paul Danahar will be reading tonight at the NYU Bookstore, 726 Broadway, at 6 PM. 

Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at NYU and Princeton and contributing editor to the Nation and author of Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War and Paul Danahar, BBC's North America bureau chief and former Middle East bureau chief from 2010-2013, and author of the forthcoming book The New Middle East:The World After the Arab Spring discuss the crisis in Syria, potential international intervention, and the dynamics in the region.

When the conflict in Syria began it was relatively simple - a tyrant versus his people. After more than a year, it's become much more complicated. Bob speaks with BBC Middle East Bureau Chief Paul Danahar who recently returned from Syria about the propaganda both sides of the conflict are putting out and the usefulness of having more journalists on the ground in Syria.

Rebel forces continue to fight for freedom from the Gadhafi regime. They have taken over much of the eastern part of the country, but experts say that Gadhafi will likely retain his hold on the capital city of Tripoli. Complicating the current and future situation in Libya is the fact that it's a tribal country, with some factions supporting Gadhafi and others fighting with the opposition.

Today marks the 68th birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. He is well known for keeping his country and citizens isolated from the outside world, and now, with rumors of his failing health, North Korea watchers are keenly focused on the future of this extremely secretive, and isolated regime.