Basically Syria is like Somalia in the early 1990s, only in this case location makes it very, very important for several major foreign powers. Russia will not allow an unfriendly government to threaten its stranglehold on natural gas sales to Europe. The Sunnis will not live under an Iranian backed minority rule. The Islamists will not allow a secular government.
No outside power is willing to make the sacrifice neccessary to over run the country because the cost would be astounding and the rewards few. I don’t think this will end anytime soon.
Add Cambodia, Nigeria, the Congo, and Players to Be Named to that list.
I like your "Hierarchy of Disagreement" pyramid on your homepage. I should hold it up to my postings as a gauge of worthiness before I post, which would probably raise the the quality of my responses, and severely limit the number of them!! ;)