Syria Has Effectively Ceased to Exist

With Russians and Iranians in control in Damascus, the U.S. bolstering rebels, and no one powerful enough to press for unification, the breakup of Syria is a fait accompli.

• BY JONATHAN SPYER-MAY 19, 2017

DAMASCUS, Syria — On my last night in Damascus, some younger members of the Information Ministry-sponsored delegation in which I was taking part decided to have a drink. It was late April, and the bars and restaurants were doing good business in the cool and breezy evenings. An inebriated Russian journalist, accompanied by a uniformed Russian soldier, entered the bar opposite our hotel in the Old City where my colleagues were sitting. Words were exchanged. An altercation began.

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