WHAT does "has involved dangling a small carrot or two, " means here..?
Less than 24 hours before, the government had pledged not to use violence. The Syrian government's confused response to these unprecedented protests has involved dangling a small carrot or two, as well as swinging its heavy truncheon. WHAT does "has involved dangling a small carrot or two, " means here..? Is that some kind of empty promises?

Question

WHAT does "has involved dangling a small carrot or two, " means here..? 
Less than 24 hours before, the government had pledged not to use violence. The Syrian government's confused response to these unprecedented protests has involved dangling a small carrot or two, as well as swinging its heavy truncheon. WHAT does "has involved dangling a small carrot or two, " means here..? Is that some kind of empty promises?

Answer

The government has had to make some promises to satisfy the protesters.  The promises are not really empty.  They are "small", so the writer might mean that they are of minor importance or insignificant compared to some of the other things the protesters want.

Answer

The exact image you need is on this page:

http://breathnotes.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/the-dangling-carrot/

Answer

a small carrot or two = a small concession or a bribe