November 20, 2013 12:11 AM
By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star

SUMMARY

Four simultaneous trends seem to define the war in Syria these days, which only becomes more complicated and difficult to resolve with every passing week.

Every aspect of Syria today is frightening and tragic but also consequential for the region and the world.

I would now say that Syria in fact comprises at least 10 different simultaneous conflicts and historical confrontations in the region that have come together at this moment and in this place.

This soon was overwhelmed by the many other antagonisms of the modern Middle East, such as Arab vs. Iranian, Arab vs. Israeli, Kurdish vs. Arab, Sunni vs. Shiite, Islamist vs. secularist, Arab conservative monarchies vs. Arab nationalist republics, Arab and Iranian revolutionary Islamists vs. conservative Arab monarchies, pro-American vs. pro-Russian and, most recently, Al-Qaeda-like Arab and foreign Salafist militants vs. virtually everyone else.

Saudi Arabia and Iran face off in Syria expecting that the outcome there will shape the Middle East region for decades to come.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2013/Nov-20/238353-a-book-helps-us-navigate-the-syria-mess.ashx#ixzz2lGPdV8ok
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