Modern-day Iraq, Libya and Syria were all cut of the same cloth, which was once a map of the Ottoman Empire. From this dismemberment, they all went onto be colonies of the European victors of the First World War, before gaining independence and freedom after the Second.
These utopian days were short lived. Each fell to military dictatorships, punctuated by gasps of democracy, between 1958 and 1969. Each of the three fell under the leadership of one man, at the helm of one central party, wrapped in the façade of constitutional processes which only allowed approved players to partake. All three also went on to launch themselves into endless wars with enemies which ranged from the 'little Satan' (Israel) to their neighbours.
Iraq fought Iran and took Kuwait. Libya fought Chad for over a decade, whilst Syrian forces occupied large parts of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005. Each of the three has also been an active supporter of foreign terror organisations. Iraq, Libya and Syria also shared the similarity of suppressing dissident regimes within their own borders. Murder, enforced disappearances and torture stains the historic record of each of these countries.
The current difference with all three is that two have been turned into regimes which, in rhetoric, value human rights and the right of the people to determine their own future. Whilst there remains a strong risk that both Iraq and Libya will simply repeat the patterns of their former dictators, the citizens are trying to govern themselves.
This is unlike Syria. Here, large numbers of the people (of which 30 per cent live below the poverty line and 40 per cent are under the age of 15) simply do not believe the promise of democracy sometime next year, from a man who is part of dynasty which has ruled the country for nearly five decades.