Having bestowed recognition on the external opposition in 2012, the United States and its partners should get it ready for prime time — prepare it to govern in case an opportunity, perhaps in the form of a protected haven, suddenly presents itself.
The Syrian National Council (SNC), the main exile opposition group, is holding a congress in Doha starting on Sunday, before the launch on Thursday of a plan to bring together the external opposition and the revolutionary councils leading the insurrection inside Syria behind a common programme for a democratic transition.
By launching an attack on Qatar, they aim not only to silence external opposition, but internal forces as well.
Diplomats said one new element in the EU's approach was aid to "civil society" organisations on the ground inside Syria, part of a shift away from supporting the external opposition.
On 2 October, the Syrian opposition managed to unify under a National Council that it said represented both the internal and the external opposition.
Mr. Abbas also has internal opposition, from Hamas in Gaza, as well as external opposition from Syria and Iran, Mr. Hamad said.
Nonetheless, the C.I.A. had received an influx of cash, and it decided to create an external opposition movement to Saddam.
With facts, figures and overwhelming force of argument, Mr Brown sallies forth to crush internal dissent and external opposition alike.
These structures enabled fraternal members and leaders to turn local disputes into national ones, devise strategies based on the interplay of different levels of government, and sustain a discourse that facilitated internal mobilization and minimized external opposition.
Obviously, we will encounter external opposition, but this is a decision that we need to make for ourselves.
