A Shaky Truce for a Fragile Syria

Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.

Last week, President Obama announced a two-week ceasefire in the Syrian civil war a with a cautionary note.

“If implemented, and that’s a significant if, this cessation could reduce the violence and get more food and aid to Syrians who are suffering and desperately need it,” President Obama said. “It could save lives. Potentially, it could also lead to negotiations on a political settlement to end the civil war so that everyone can focus their attention on destroying ISIL.”

The truce was set to begin over the weekend, and would be the first time that diplomacy would have brought any sort of quiet in the five year civil war.

Stephen Kinzer, currently a columnist at the Boston Globe, and a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, joins The Takeaway with the latest on the fighting, and why the U.S. was so late in using diplomacy to try to end the war. 

What you’ll learn from this segment:

• Whether the ceasefire has stopped the fighting.
• Why many have been skeptical of the temporary agreement.
• How the international community is viewing Bashar Al-Assad in negotiations.