The internal crisis in Syria continues to invite external intervention as 19 out of the 22 members of the Arab League agree to impose sanctions on Syria in the light of the killings of 15 civilians on Sunday by the security forces. According to the agreed sanctions, there is to be a permanent ban on prominent Syrian regime officials from travelling to Arab countries with their accounts in the Arab countries to be frozen, no dealings with the Syrian central bank, suspension of economic trade with the Damascus government — except food items — and monitoring of transfers to Syria with the exception of remittances from Syrians to outside countries. There are two restraining factors that are impeding the accomplishment of the interventionist goals of the West in Syria. The first is the ‘fear factor’ — fear of militant groups led by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both of which are known opponents of western imperialism and enthusiasts of Arab nationalism, reacting against any intervention. Secondly, the norm of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which focuses on the prevention of and protection from “mass atrocity crimes” including genocide and crimes against humanity, has been misused to legitimise foreign intervention in Libya. While Russia and China backed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution against Libya, they decided to use better judgement this time by vetoing a strikingly similar Syrian resolution. This is the other restraining factor making foreign intrusion in Syria harder to justify. Arguably, the regime of Bashar al-Assad has not handled the situation any better as its heavy-handed repression has only stoked the fire. However, it would be unjust to say that Bashar al-Assad has not agreed to peace deals and shown willingness to hold talks with the opposition in attempts to resolve the country’s internal conflict. The sanctions on Syria by the Arab League are a negation of so-called Arab solidarity. Also, the Arab League’s haste to suspend Syria before its own deadline earlier, and to impose sanctions before Friday’s deadline now, show that the Arab League is acting as a Trojan Horse for western interests and foreign intervention that otherwise appears to be a challenging task. It remains to be seen how the Syrians would react, as reports of protesters’ denunciation of the sanctions are reflecting the onset of more troubled times ahead. According to the Syrian foreign minister, the Arab League is seeking to “internationalise” the crisis in his country — a view that has aptly underscored the gravity of the situation, the tremors of which will no doubt be felt regionally and internationally. *