But let us look at the arty:

Syria sees benefits of liberalisation

Chic sidewalk cafés offering fashionable coffees and trendy western dishes have sprung up in the more upmarket areas of Damascus.

The clients are invariably well-dressed, and the neighbourhoods are studded with shops selling international brand name clothing such as Benetton and Stefanel, some of whose merchandise is made in Syria.

In the arcade attached to the Four Seasons Hotel, imported shoes and fashions from top designers are available to those who can pay more than £1,000 ($2,000) for a single item of clothing.

A quick note, one of the funny contrasts between the Machreq (ex Lebanon) and the Maghreb is the degree to which Western / international culture in terms of Malls etc revolves around the Five Star hotels.

Less true in Egypt, it would seem utterly bizarre in the Maghreb to build one's socializing (in terms of high end business and whatever interaction) around say restaurants or whatever in 5 stars. In the Machreq, really the point of departuture (ex-Lebabnon and Dubai).

The picture is at odds with Syria’s image as a pariah state with a centrally planned economy, a large and unprofitable public sector and a security apparatus breathing down everyone’s neck.

But Syria has been forced to liberalise aspects of its economic system to make up for oil revenue that has been falling by about 10 per cent a year.

The economy remains in desperate need of restructuring, and privatisation has stalled. The country’s foreign policy, at odds with most of its neighbours in the Arab world, has been deterring investment from abroad.

In most respects Syria is almost a museum case - in fact the radical maximalist greater Israel types have to absolutely thank God for Syria's neanderthalic government and cretinous approach to even its own interests.

Moving forward in the arty, we find this fine quote

“Foreign investment to manufacturing is not there,” he said. “The multinationals are not there. I can only think of two.” But he argues that “the business climate is no longer the deterrent to foreign investment. It is the media image and the United States accusing Syria of terrorism”.

The economic cost of a hardline foreign policy might be an additional factor driving the Syrian regime to send signals recently that it wants a better relationship with the west.

Officials are in contact with Israeli counterparts on reaching a peace agreement that would return the occupied Golan Heights to Syria.

Having acquiesced in a deal that ended almost two years of crisis in Lebanon – after being accused of blocking it – Syria is starting to reap benefits, with France in particular resuming its engagement with Damascus.

The US, however, remains unconvinced that the regime, accused of the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, deserves to be rewarded at this time.

Deserves?

What the bloody fuck is going on with US FP? Are they in primary school?

Washington first imposed trade sanctions on Syria in 2004. Last month it was reported the US Treasury had been pressing Turkcell, a Turkish mobile phone operator, to abandon a $1bn (€645m, £512m) takeover of Syriatel, which is owned by Rami Makhlouf, the tycoon cousin of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

Frankly if Turkcell is smart, they will natter on with these current cretins in waiting for a more, well intelligent policy.

The stunning thing is whether Cuba and Syria, American policy seems to depend on wildly ideological and indeed childish policy reads.