No peace in sight in Syria
Three momentous recent events will shape the course of the Syrian crisis: the fall Aleppo, the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey and the trilateral meeting between Russia, Turkey and Iran held in Moscow on December 20. This new trilateral diplomatic activism was preceded by a shift in the military balance of power on the ground as a result of the fall ofAleppo.
At this stage, the consolidation of military gains, the increasing legitimacy of the Bashar al-Assad regime, and Russia, Iran and Syria regimes' preservations of their respective interests seem to form the immediate goals of these talks from the Iranian, Russian and Syrian perspectives.
They seem to be poised to crown relative military gains with political concessions, the most important of which is to take the talk of regime change in Syria off the table, and hence increase the international acceptance and legitimacy of Assad.
With the Assad regime in control of almost all major urban centres in Syria, the multilateral talks in their previous forms - be it in Geneva or Vienna - have lost their meaning. No longer will the regime and its backers, at least for the foreseeable future, be willing to engage in talks premised on a transition of power that would have seen Assad exit the scene at the end of an agreed-upon timeframe.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/12/peace-sight-syria-161223125227417.html
Anybody have any thoughts or insights into Syria now that Assad seems to be back in charge?
