Rime Allaf is a Syrian-born writer and political analyst. In a wide-ranging conversation with Newlines’ Faisal Al Yafai, she recalls living through the end of the Hafez al-Assad era and traces the Bashar years from the initial optimism of Syrians, through the end of the Lebanon occupation and the Iraq War, to the start of the Syrian revolution.

10 years after the start of the conflict in Syria that started as civilians protests against the Assad regime, it is now a proxy war waged on many different fronts. 12 million Syrians – half the pre-conflict population - were displaced. Over 400,000 Syrians lost their lives in this crisis and the infrastructure is in shambles with no straight path forward.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie presents the second podcast in a series marking the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring. In this podcast, Charlotte examines the continuing tragedy of Syria with Simon Collis, UK Ambassador to Damascus in 2010 and Rime Allaf, the Syrian born writer and political analyst.

Is time running out for Syria's opposition coalition forces?

The proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons arsenal under international control has sparked debate among supporters of a US intervention. Rime Allaf is a Syrian commentator and writer. She tells anchor Marco Werman that the focus on chemical weapons distracts from the ongoing civil war in Syria.

Kofi Annan presented Bashar al-Assad with "concrete proposals" to halt the unrest. Syrian analyst Rime Allaf, who is an associate fellow at Chatham House in London, is not optimistic.