Yet more speculation and paranoia out of Pravda’s Sergei Balmasov. I love Pravda for its conspiratorial stance on issues and its typically different take on events from most Western papers. In this interesting piece, Balmasov claims that the 11th August Statement of the UN Security Council regarding Syria is a ‘carte blanche’ for the enemies of the al-Assad regime to ‘persecute’ him. Funny language, given that dictators are not normally persecuted but I digress. Apparently the nation is to divided into a Kurdish north, a Sunni center and a Druze state in the south. This process is supposed to occur within the next couple of months and will follow the termination of the Syrian state as it currently exists. The Druze community is an interesting one, comprised of monotheists with traditions dating back to the 11th Century. The religion combines elements of esotericism, Gnosticism, and Abrahamic religions. Given that the Middle East is normally portrayed as a homogenous, Islamic culture (never mind whether they are Sunni or Shiite, and don’t even bring up the Baha’i), it is intriguing to speculate that a minority group like the Druze of Syria would have a state of their own. Not only would that change the world’s view of what the Middle East is like but it would also help draw distinctions between the many different, ancient communities vying for sovereignty in the region.