As 2016 comes to an end, the outlook for 2017 is shrouded in uncertainty.

Tensions in the Middle East are rising, and populist movements have appeared in Europe and the United States.

In the Middle East, the tragic conflict in Syria continues, despite several fruitless attempts at rapprochement, which were marred by the fundamental disagreement about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future role in any peace process or political transition.

Meanwhile, over the past week, Syrian government troops, backed by Russia and Iran, have retaken almost all of Aleppo — once Syria’s largest city, now utterly devastated by the war.

The world’s priority for the coming year must be to achieve peace in Syria, which will require close regional and international cooperation.

On December 27, Iran, Russia and Turkey will hold a tripartite meeting in Moscow to discuss a political solution for the Syria conflict.

That meeting, if it takes place, is likely to be overshadowed by the fallout from the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey. But it is nothing if not surprising that these parties, and not the US and the European Union, would be negotiating such an agreement.

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 http://jordantimes.com/opinion/javier-solana/year-ended-epoch

The writer was EU high representative for foreign and security policy, secretary general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain. He is currently president of the ESADE Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics and Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution. ©Project Syndicate, 2016.www.project-syndicate.org