Syria, the ‘Survivor’ — the name is apt — after almost a decade of bloodshed, a sectarian and fratricidal civil war, which attracted jihadists from across the world, Syria has emerged victorious. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has won, prevailing over all the different forces that had allied against it – the Free Syrian Army, and the numerous jihadist groups like the Al-Nusra Front, with support from states like the US, Turkey, Qatar, and the ISIS. A UN report says that more than 40, 000 fighters from 110 countries traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the ISIS.
Of course, Syria’s victory has largely been made possible because of the support that Syria received from countries like Russia and Iran, and organisations like Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Yet it has to be acknowledged that it would make for a very strong willpower and determination to overcome all the myriad adversaries arrayed against it.