At present, the international players are not satisfied with allowing either side to win, which is why the conflict will remain at a “low boil” in which the opposition is kept on life support but will remain largely ineffective, while the Syrian people are sacrificed on the altar of great power politics.<\/p>\n
The audio of the event can be accessed on the Wilson Center’s website, here:<\/p>\n
What\u2019s To Become of Syria? U.S. Policy, the Opposition and the Regime<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ford begins speaking at 11:35<\/strong>, Landis begins at 17:30<\/strong><\/p>\n —————————————————————-<\/p>\n Take a look at this interesting infographic underscoring the complexity of alliances and competitions within the Syria conflict (thanks to Pieter Van Ostaeyen<\/a> for circulating it, from an article by Think Progress<\/em>):<\/p>\n Why The Middle East Is Now A Giant Warzone, In One Terrifying Chart<\/a><\/p>\n What started as a crackdown against democratic protests three years ago, has become a region-wide conflict that now has Iraq descending back into chaos. The countries of the region \u2014 along with the United States and various non-state actors \u2014 all have a hand in creating this moment, as money, fighters, weapons, and a desire to control the Middle East have come together to produce an extremely volatile and terrifying situation.<\/p>\n What has made the Syrian conflict so difficult to respond to has been the fact that the situation has refused to be tied down as just a civil war. In addition to the top-line fighting between the Syrian government and rebels who\u2019d like to oust Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, there\u2019s also a proxy war ongoing between Sunni-majority states in the Gulf and Shiite-majority Iran and its allies. There\u2019s also struggles for dominance among the rebels, who fight each other almost as frequently as the Assad government these days. Add in disagreements between the countries united against Assad over just which of the Syrian rebels to finance, and the reason a simple solution for the conflict hasn\u2019t been developed becomes more understandable.<\/p>\n And standing out among all of this now is the attempts of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) \u2014 also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) \u2014 to establish its own state within the region. ISIS managed to takeover the city of Fallujah in January, hold it against Iraqi army efforts to dislodge it, and in the last few days take over both the major cities of Mosul and Tikrit. …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See also an updated map on the current situation in Syria from Thomas van Linge<\/a>, also posted by Pieter<\/a>:<\/p>\n …As well as another detailed map by Thomas on ISIS in Iraq:<\/p>\n![\"Why](\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Think-Progress-The-tangled-web-in-the-fight-for-Syrias-future.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"20140615-221408\"](\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20140615-221408-450x395.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Map-of-ISIS-in-Iraq-450x455.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"