Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s crackdowns on local protestors are attracting attention worldwide. The United Nations and the Arab League have drawn up proposals to address the issue, but have been met with resistance from the Syrian government as well as China and Russia, who vetoed a resolution condemning the Assad regime earlier this month.

Just as promised, the last of the U.S. troops were pulled out of Iraq on Dec. 18 and home in time for Christmas. But this picture-perfect, happy-ending rhetoric shrouds the fact that this is not a peaceful ending for Iraq yet. Military force alone has not provided the mechanisms for Iraq to build a lasting…