Syria’s civil war continues to spread sectarian chaos far beyond its borders. Sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq and Lebanon is on the rise. But a wider shift in US policy in the region is forcing its most prominent Sunni powers — Saudi Arabia and Turkey — to reassess their key role in supporting Sunni Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Military developments in Syria suggest that the Assad regime — backed by leading regional Shiite power Iran, Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah militia, Iraqi Shiite militias, and Russia — is likely to survive for the foreseeable future, despite the best efforts of Riyadh and Ankara.
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