„So put all this together and you have a fair approximation of the current state of the Middle East, as reflected in miniature in the cauldron that is northern Syria: emergent Iranian-Russian strategic alliance, US noninvolvement, hapless US-aligned Sunni powers flailing as a result of this absence, state fragmentation, the emergence of powerful ‚successor‘ entities, the domination of Arab politics at a popular level by Sunni political Islam, and the emergence of the Kurds as a militarily able and politically savvy local power.“ (Jonathan Spyer, Direktor des Rubin Center in Herzliya und Gastautor in unseren „Analysen 2014/2015“ analysiert in der Jerusalem Post, was die Entwicklungen in Syrien über die gegenwärtige Lage im Nahen Osten aussagen: Behind the Lines: The Syrian cauldron)
