In the October 2013 issue of the Journal of Democracy, a quintet of articles take a look at the “Arab Spring.” The essays take on over-arching issues with the push for democracy in the region as well as updates on individual issues in specific countries. Dr. Steven Heydemann, a senior adviser for Middle East Initiatives at the U.S. Institute of Peace. wrote “Syria and the Future of Authoritarianism,” an examination of the possibility that authoritarian regimes will emerge even more repressive than in the past. Heydemann joined Christopher Walker, Executive Director of the International Forum with the National Endowment for Democracy, to talk about the article for an episode of the Democracy Ideas video series on the NED website.