ON JANUARY 6TH, in his first public speech for nearly seven months, Syria’s President Bashar Assad once again set his face against any suggestion that he should negotiate with the rebels, let alone accept the idea of his own departure as a prerequisite for a peaceful transition. He also seemed to belittle the services of Lakhdar Brahimi, the envoy of both the UN and the Arab League to Syria, who has been relentlessly touring the region and visiting capitals around the world in an effort to broker a solution.