The advances, paired with the weakness of moderate rebels against more extremist elements in the opposition, have left Assad’s regime back on top. “There is no question that the regime has won the strategic war,” said Hassan Hassan, an expert at the US-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. ‘Tables turned’“Nobody wants the regime to go… Some of the opposition backers actually want the regime to stay,” he said. West’s new moodNegotiations have long been hamstrung by the fundamental disagreement between the regime and the opposition over Assad’s fate. Limited changesDomestically, the regime faces another major challenge, beyond that of reconstruction or security: the status of the Kurds.

Source: Manila Times October 31, 2017 16:07 UTC